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Cardinals vs. Rams Gambling Prediction Week 1

Preview and NFL Betting free pick by Jason Green for this week 1 game between Arizona Cardinals vs. St. Louis Rams. The Cardinals are 4 point favorites in the NFL odds, and the early total is set at 39, bet now in your favorite NFL sportsbook…

Arizona Cardinals vs. St. Louis Rams NFL Lines

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Finally! The NFL season is here and in an NFC West match up in week one the St. Louis Rams host the Arizona Cardinals.

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Arizona vs. St. Louis Betting Odds

Date/Time: 4:15 PM ET, September 12, 2010
Venue: Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, MO
Arizona Cardinals vs. St. Louis Rams NFL Lines
MoneyLine: Cardinals -200 / Rams +175
Spread: Cardinals -4
Over/Under: 39
Bet now at Sportsbetting.com

To say that each team had a colorful off-season is an understatement. The Rams got the #1 pick in the draft in Sam Bradford and since he played so well in the pre-season he was named the starter for this game. The Cardinals thought Matt Leinart would be taking over for the retired Kurt Warner, but free-agent Derek Anderson was named the starter and now Leinart is now with the Houston Texans after being released.

It seems this is a match up of a couple of teams heading in different directions. The Cardinals have made the playoffs, including one trip to the Super Bowl, for the past few seasons while the Rams have been simply terrible. However, things are looking up with Bradford and some young talent St. Louis has and the Cardinals no longer have their franchise QB and they are not the favorite to win the weak NFC West.

Yes, Bradford has talent and the Rams do have some solid young players, but they still only ranked 29th on both offense and defense last season.

I know, I know, the pre-season does not mean anything, but each team went 3-1 this pre-season.

Last season the Rams lost both games against the Cardinals and they have not beat Arizona since beating them in the desert in week 3 in 2006.

Arizona Cardinals vs. St. Louis Rams Preview

Derek Anderson is now THE man in Arizona and he inherits an offense that ranked 14th in the league last season. In 2009 the Cardinals had a solid passing game, but a pretty weak rushing attack only averaging 93.4 yards per game. It will take a lot of pressure off Anderson if 2nd year RB Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower can pick up some yards.

The RB duo may have a good game against a Rams’ rushing defense that only ranked 27th in the league last season. St. Louis is hoping the pair of free agent tackles Fred Robbins and Chris Hovan can improve upon that.

Anderson still has WR Larry Fitzgerald, but the loss of Anquan Boldin will mean The All Pro will see more double teams. The Cardinals had a decent offensive line last season, but they may be better this season with free agent addition Alan Faneca.

The Rams’ pass rush will be led by 2nd year LB James Laurinaitis, who last season became just the second rookie in franchise history to lead the Rams in tackles (120). He and free agent addition Na’il Diggs will be counted on to pressure Anderson. Football betting

The Rams’ secondary will have some new faces and a coupe of rookies will get good looks in this game. However, they may get torched, especially if the front line D cannot get to Anderson.

Sam Bradford won the QB spot as a rookie and he has a lot of pressure on him to help the Rams get back to being respectable. At least he has RB Steven Jackson in the backfield, who ranked 2nd in the league last season in rushing yards.

Once stacked at the WR position the Rams will go with a bunch with young guys and a few unproven veterans, but they will need a #1 WR to step up.

The Rams are hoping that last year’s 2nd round draft pick tackle Jason Smith will fulfill his potential after an injury marred rookie campaign. Overall the Rams’ offensive line is decent, but they are not the best unit at pass protection.

The Cardinals’ defense ranked 20th in the league last season and their weakness is defending the pass. That is a major issue this season since they lost All Pro DB Antrel Rolle to free agency.

The Arizona pass rush will suffer this season since they lost their best LB, leading tackler Karlos Dansby. However they are hoping 2nd round draft pick LB Daryl Washington can produce right away and free agent Joey Porter still has some gas left in his tank. The Arizona run defense is decent and they may have got the steal of the draft since NT Dan Williams fell to them with the 26th pick.

The Cardinals will have to stop Steven Jackson and force Bradford to beat them with his arm.

Both teams are in flux and nobody is expecting much from either team this season. Bradford has a ton of talent, but is obviously unproven and Anderson is a wild card and needs to hark back to a few years back when he was a Pro Bowl QB. The Cardinals still have some pieces to work with and they will come out and play well and spoil Bradford’s home opener and win this game as well as cover the spread.

Pick: Cardinals -4

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Jason Green is a new contributor to Cappers and last week had a solid opening one going 3-3. He makes bold picks, at times, and stands behind all of them. He is anxiously waiting for the first NFL week when his beloved new-look Redskins take on the Cowboys, who is a team Jason has no love for, to say the least.

By Jason Green

Jason Green is back with Cappers Picks again to give out his free sports plays. As always he's hoping the Braves and Redskins can win a championship since their last one in the 90’s was long ago. He’s starting to know the pain of Cubs fans.