Atlanta Falcons vs. Arizona Cardinals NFL Betting Odds & Spread

Written January 1, 2009 by Jason Lowry

Atlanta Arizona Football

The NFL playoffs are set and this Saturday the 9-7 Arizona Cardinals will host a playoff game for the first time in 61 years, and for the first time ever in Arizona. The Cardinals are set to take on the red hot 11-5 Atlanta Falcons who finished the season with wins in 5 of their final 6 games, including 3 of them on the road. The Cardinals on the other hand have won just 2 games in their final 6, but many of those games meant little with the team already having the weak NFC West wrapped up, but they were able to get a win in the final week against the Seahawks. For those of you looking to do a little NFL betting this weekend, the oddsmakers actually have the Falcons 2 point favorites on the road over the Cardinals at BetUS.com.

The Falcons are riding a 3 game winning streak into the postseason, and its hard picking just one guy that has been the reason for the teams amazing turnaround. A lot of credit has to go to rookie quarterback Matt Ryan who stepped in and completed 61% of his passes for 3,440 yards and 16 scores in his first season in the NFL, but that wasn’t the only new face on this offense, as Michael Turner came over from the Chargers to run for 1,699 yards and 17 touchdowns. This unit also got a big year from wideout Roddy White, who hauled in 88 catches for 1,382 yards and 7 scores. We expect the Falcons to look to pound the football with Turner in this one, as Turner tore apart the Rams in the Falcons final game of the season running it 25 times for 208 yards and a touchdown.

The Falcons also have one of the leagues better defenses, as they are holding opponents to the 5th lowest yards per game at just 275 and they are doing it both against the run and the pass. They allow just 170 yards passing a game, and with the Cardinals who throw it nearly every play it has to look like this unit has the talent to slow them down. The star of this defense is defensive end John Abraham who was 3rd in the NFL with 16.5 sacks. Look for this unit to give the Cardinals problems, but it will be interesting to see if this team can stay hot on the road. Bet Atlanta Falcons -2 at BetUS.com.

There isn’t a lot of people giving the Arizona Cardinals much credit heading into the playoffs, and seeing how they were just 1-4 against playoff teams this season its pretty easy to see why. Now playing at home is a huge advantage for the Cardinals offense, as it pretty much guarantees good weather for the passing attack of Kurt Warner and company. Warner finished with one of his better seasons as a pro, throwing for 4,583 yards with 30 touchdowns to just 14 interceptions, and the fact that he was so good without a running game speaks volumes of just how good a quarterback this guy really is. It does help when you have guys like Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin to throw the football to, as Fitzgerald caught 96 passes for 1,431 yards and 12 scores, while Boldin was close behind with 89 catches for 1,038 yards and 11 scores. The passing game has to be on if the Cardinals want to move on to play in the 2nd round.

Where this team could really hurt itself is on the defensive side of things, as they come in giving up 343 yards of total offense, and aren’t much better against the run than they are against the pass. Its hard telling how this unit would of faired if it didn’t play in one of the weakest division in football, but this unit seems to play better in front of the home crowd, Even though this team has their hands full in this one trying to not only stop the running of Turner but the passing attack of Ryan, we believe the Cardinals can pull off the win in this one. Bet Arizona Cardinals +2 at BetUS.com.

Lowry’s Lean on the Game: Atlanta -2
I actually had a pretty hard time deciding which way to go in this one, but when it was all said and done, I had to go with the team playing the best football heading into the playoffs, as the Giants proved last year it doesn’t matter if you play at home or on the road. I look for Turner to have a huge game against the Cardinals, and the Falcons to run away with this one late.

Predicted Score: Atlanta 31 Arizona 24

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