Seahawks Cardinals Spread

Written by Jack Jones - Google +

Both the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals made impressive late-season runs to put themselves in position to make the playoffs. It appeared that their Week 17 showdown could possibly be for a NFC wild card berth, but after close losses last week, both have been eliminated. Each will be playing for pride Sunday as they both try to get to .500 on the season. Seattle won the first meeting 13-10 at home on September 25th in a hard-fought defensive battle. After losing four in a row to the Cardinals, the Seahawks have now won three straight in this series.

Oddsmakers in Las Vegas have installed a line of Arizona -3 over Seattle and a total set of 41 points.

Arizona

The Cardinals lost six of their first seven games this season, but they refused to give in. Arizona (7-8, 5-2 home) has ridden the hot hand of backup quarterback John Skelton to six victories in their next seven games before their 23-16 loss to Cincinnati last week.

Arizona nearly erased a 23-0 fourth quarter deficit to the Bengals and had a few chances down the stretch to win the game. After scoring 16 quick points, the Cardinals got the ball back with a chance to tie it. But on fourth down from the 17-yard line, Skelton missed an uncovered Early Doucet at the goal line after the receiver tripped and fell.

Skelton has gone 5-2 in place of the injured Kevin Kolb, who was supposed to help improve this team dramatically. He is recovering from a concussion, but hasn’t been that affective in terms of wins and losses when getting the start. Skelton is completing 54.9 percent of his passes for 1,642 yards with 10 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

Arizona will be sending three players to the Pro Bowl. They are receiver Larry Fitzgerald, safety Adrian Wilson and rookie cornerback Patrick Peterson. Fitzgerald is averaging a career-best 17.8 yards per catch, and Peterson has tied and NFL record with four punt returns for touchdowns this season. Lost in the mix is Beanie Wells, who has rushed for a career high 1,047 yards and 10 scores.

Seattle

Like Arizona, the Seahawks have put together a tremendous second half under second-year head coach Pete Carroll. After going 2-6 through the first half, the Seahawks have gone on to put together a 5-2 second half to this point. Seattle (7-8, 3-4 away) had their playoff hopes crushed with a 19-17 home loss to NFC West champion San Francisco last week.

Seattle held a 10-3 lead over the 49ers at halftime, but couldn’t hold on. They were outgained 349-265 by San Francisco as they just couldn’t get much going offensively. Tarvaris Jackson was limited to 15 of 28 passing for 163 yards with a touchdown. Marshawn Lynch was productive, rushing for 107 yards and a score on 21 carries, but it wasn’t enough.

Lynch has been a workhorse for this team. He has rushed for a career-high 1,118 yards and has scored a touchdown in a team-record 11 straight games. Lynch has topped the 100-yard mark in six of his last eight, and 855 of his yards have come since Week 9, which is the best in the NFL.

Seattle safety Earl Thomas is the lone Pro Bowl selection for this team, and he will join Arizona’s Wilson as a starting defensive back. Jackson probably has played well enough to keep his job heading into next year. In his first full season as a starter, he has completed 60.2 percent of his passes for 2,869 yards with 13 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

Betting Trends

The Seahawks are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games following a S.U. loss, and 4-0-1 ATS in their last 5 road games.

The Cardinals are 10-3 ATS in their last 13 games as a home favorite of 3.0 points or less, but just 3-7 ATS in their last 10 vs. NFC West opponents.

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