Cardinals Redskins Line

Written by Steve Janus

The Washington Redskins are set to host the Arizona Cardinals in week 2, and both teams will be looking to start the season 2-0. The Redskins took down the New York Giants 28-14 at home, while the Cardinals rallied for a 28-21 win over the Carolina Panthers. The Redskins have won seven straight in the series, but a lot has changed for both teams since they last played in 2008.

Looking at the week 2 NFL spreads, oddsmakers have the Redskins favored by 3.5-points over the Cardinals with the total set at 44.5 points.

Arizona Cardinals:

A lot of people expected the Cardinals to walk all over the Panthers last week, but they were pretty lucky to even win the game. Arizona took an early 7-0 lead, but would go into the half down 14-7 and into the fourth quarter trailing 21-14. Kevin Kolb connected with Early Doucet for a 70 yard touchdown to tie it at 21-21. First round pick Patrick Peterson would score the winning touchdown on an 89-yard punt return.

Kolb had a nice debut for the Cardinals, throwing for 309 yards and two touchdowns. While some might have expected him to come in and just fire the rock to Larry Fitzgerald, the Pro Bowl receiver had just three catches for 62 yards. Kolb actually did a nice job spreading the ball around. Six different receivers finished with at least two catches.

Arizona also got a nice game out of running back Beanie Wells, who carried it 18 times for 90 yards and a touchdown. The Cardinals are really hoping Wells has a breakout season now that he is without question the No.1 option out of the backfield.

While the offense was impressive in the first game, Arizona’s secondary has plenty of room to improve. The Cardinals allowed rookie Cam Newton to complete 24 of 37 for 422 yards and two touchdowns. Not to take anything away from Newton, but I would bet he doesn’t go over 400 yards the rest of the season. Arizona did hold the Panthers to just 74 yards on the ground, but they are in for a long season if that is how they are going to defend the pass.

Washington Redskins:

Not a lot of people thought Rex Grosman was going to be able to lead the Redskins offense, but he quieted a lot of the critics with his impressive showing in week 1. Grossman went 21 of 34 for 305 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Grossman hooked up with tight end Fred Davis five time for a 105 yards and veteran wide out Santana Moss six times for 76 yards. His two touchdown passes went to wide outs Jabar Gaffney and Anthony Armstrong.

What makes Grossman’s performance even more impressive is the Redskins had just 74 yards rushing on 26 attempts. I expect this team to have more success running the ball as the season goes on, but they are in real good shape if Grossman can match his week 1 performance.

Defensively the Redskins really played well. I fully expected New York to put up more than 14 points in this game. Washington held Eli Manning to just 268 yards with an interception and allowed just 75 yards on the ground. It will be interesting to see if the defense builds off that performance or takes a step back in week 2.

Betting Trends:

Arizona is 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games as a road underdog.

Washington is 1-7-1 ATS in their last 9 games as a favorite.

Be sure to stop back and see who Steve Janus takes in week 2 of the NFL.

Comments

Got something to say?