Sportsbook.com NFC West Betting Preview | Futures

[Qbins Missile Crisis]

NFL: Cardinals fans waiting for breakout

The Arizona Cardinals have been on the verge of a breakout season for years but continually disappoint backers with subpar seasons.

Following an 8-8 season, oddsmakers are giving the Cardinals a shot at the postseason, putting them at 9:4 odds to win a weak NFC West division.



Seattle remains the favorite in the division, having won it each of the last four years, but it could be time for the young Cardinals to finally reach their potential.

With the excitement of the 2008 season building, the NFL Futures Odds available here at Sportsbook.com are hot. Bet on the Division, Conference and Super Bowl Winner, Week 1 matchups and the biggest Games of the Year.

Over the past month we’ve previewed seven of the eight NFL divisions.

Here’s a look at the one remaining division, the NFC West:

Seattle Seahawks (4:5).

For the first time since 2001, the Seahawks will have a new featured running back on opening day. Seattle let former MVP Shaun Alexander go after the least productive season since his rookie year. Injuries had slowed Alexander in each of the last two seasons and after just 716 rushing yards and five touchdowns in 2007, management decided it was time to move on.

Seattle brought in Julius Jones from the Dallas Cowboys and T.J. Duckett from the Detroit Lions in the offseason. The two are competing with Maurice Morris for the starting role and while all three have NFL experience, none have proven capable of being a number-one back.

Of the three backs, Duckett was the only one to hit the 100-yard mark in a game last year, reaching the mark in Week 15 against a poor Kansas City defense. As of now though, Duckett isn’t in the picture of what will likely be a Jones-Morris committee.

The picture at wide receiver is also muddled in Seattle with top receiver Deion Branch on the Physically Unable to Perform list after having ACL surgery last year and Bobby Engram out for six to eight weeks with a cracked bone in his shoulder.

Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck could start the season with unproven receiving options if Branch isn’t ready for Week 1. Currently, a crop of youngsters in Courtney Taylor, Ben Obomanu and Logan Payne join sixth-year starter Nate Burleson as the players Hasselbeck will be throwing to.

The offensive options are thin in Seattle and that puts tremendous pressure on the defense to repeat last year’s impressive turnover stats. The Seahawks defense made noise last year, helping the offense out with a +10 turnover ratio.

Those turnovers made up for the 321.8 yards of offense per game the ‘D’ gave up last year. Pro Bowl linebacker Lofa Tatupu, four interceptions, and cornerback Marcus Trufant, seven interceptions, will have a big say whether the Seahawks continue to take the ball from opposing offenses.

Following a 10 win season, oddsmakers believe there is potential for a drop off, setting the Seahawks’ regular season win total at 8.5.

Arizona Cardinals (9:4).

Wide receiver Anquan Boldin claims he’s leaving Arizona at the end of the 2008 season, so the Cardinals would be wise to take advantage of the time they have left with the Pro Bowler.

Boldin lines up wide with Larry Fitzgerald in arguably the best one-two receiving punch any team in the NFL has. The receivers have been able to put up big numbers but that hasn’t resulted in a winning season in the desert.

In fact, the Cardinals have just one winning season in the 20 seasons since they left St. Louis and while they came close last year, this team is still trying to reach its full potential.

The stumbling block in Arizona has been at the offensive line and running back positions. Arizona brought in Edgerrin James from the Indianapolis Colts two seasons ago and while he provided better stats than previous backs, he enters this season at the age of 30, the age when many running backs’ statistics begin to slide.

Inconsistency has also plagued this team in recent years. Despite a high talent level, the team continues to find ways to lose and is often on the wrong end of games they are expected to win. Whether it’s quarterback Kurt Warner fumbling in the end zone during overtime of a game against a 3-10 San Francisco team last year, or fumbling the snap as the Cardinals milked the clock before a game-winning field goal attempt in 2006, this team has a history of bad luck.

Arizona actually lost to woeful San Francisco twice last season but managed to win games against some of the league’s best, including Pittsburgh and Seattle.

To get over the hump they’ll need solid play from former first-round pick, quarterback Matt Leinart. Despite Warner’s great numbers last year, the younger Leinart is expected to get the starting job as the Cards didn’t give Warner a snap in the team’s first preseason game.

On defense, the Cards need to shore up their passing ‘D’ and they believe that moving former first-round pick Antrel Rolle to free safety in favor of cornerbacks Eric Green and Roderick Hood and this year’s first-rounder Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie accomplishes that. Rolle is having a difficult preseason and the once highly-touted prospect could start the season on the second team.

Against the run, the Cardinals were one of the top defenses in the NFL last year, giving up just 97.9 yards per game.

Things are looking up in the desert and there’s no reason why this team can’t duplicate or better last year’s effort and go over the 7.5 regular season wins set by oddsmakers.

St. Louis Rams (5:1).

From the Greatest Show on Turf to one of the worst, the St. Louis Rams scored just 263 points last season while the defense gave up an embarrassing 438 against.

Coach Scott Linehan has his work cut out to improve on the 3-13 record last season and the fact that the 5:1 odds to win the division are the same as San Francisco shows that.

It all starts with improvements on the offensive line. Quarterback Marc Bulger was sacked 37 times in 12 games last season and was one of the many St. Louis stars that suffered through injuries last year.

Offensive lineman Orlando Pace played just one game last season, suffering a torn labrum and rotator cuff in the opener. With the seven-time Pro Bowler on the sidelines, Bulger was under constant pressure and threw 15 interceptions to just 11 touchdowns.

Running back Steven Jackson also missed significant time, playing in just 12 games. The Rams need the Pro Bowler healthy if they expect to compete this season. Jackson is a dual threat to carry the ball and catch passes out of the backfield and he’ll have a big say in the success or failure of this team. First though, he needs to end his contract dispute and rejoin his teammates.

The lone receiver remaining from the Rams Super Bowl run is Torry Holt. The 32-year-old remains one of the game’s elite pass catchers and is gunning for his 9th-straight 1,000-yard season.

Defense has never been the strong suit in St. Louis and this year is no different. This team wins by out-scoring the competition but management realizes they need to improve defensively and spent their first-round draft pick on defensive end Chris Long.

It was the second year in a row that Rams used a first-round pick on a defensive lineman as Long joins Adam Carriker on the defensive line.

There’s still a lot of room for improvement though, as the unit lacks a playmaker in the secondary to create turnovers. It can’t be reiterated enough that turnovers lead to victories and with a -10 turnover ratio last year, the defense didn’t do its part to help out a struggling offense.

If healthy, the Rams’ offense is dangerous but can it score enough to lead this team past the 6.5 regular season win total oddsmakers have set for them?

San Francisco 49ers (5:1).

The San Francisco offense was in need of major repairs after scoring the fewest points in the league last season at just 13.7 per game.

Not only did they bring in offensive guru Mike Martz to get the offense going, but they added an exciting receiver in Bryant Johnson, a veteran in Isaac Bruce and an experienced running back in DeShaun Foster.

The new crop of players looks like an improvement on paper but Martz still has to find someone to pass the ball to Bruce and Johnson and hand it to Foster and starter Frank Gore.

Surprisingly, former first-round pick Alex Smith is not the leading candidate to be the starting quarterback. The fourth-year pro suffered through a shoulder injury last year and was eventually replaced by Shaun Hill.

Now, it seems as though both quarterbacks will be replaced by J.T. O’Sullivan, whom Martz brought in from Detroit. Martz, the offensive coordinator in Detroit last year, clearly favors O’Sullivan and Head Coach Mike Nolan has indicated that he’s the current favorite for the opening day job.

The fact remains that none of the three quarterbacks are proven and it could be tough for Bruce and Johnson to get their catches. If anything, the two receivers will command respect, leading to more running room for Gore.

After nine 100-yard rushing games in 2006, Gore had just two last year and carried for close to 600 less yards but his numbers could rise again this year.

Much like the Rams, the 49ers need to start creating turnovers. Only two teams were worse than San Francisco’s -12 turnover ratio. Combine that with more than 340 yards of offense allowed per game and the results weren’t good.

Defensive end Justin Smith was signed from Cincinnati and the 49ers are hoping for double-digits in sacks while draft picks defensive end Kentwan Balmer and defensive back Reggie Smith will likely find their way into the lineup throughout the season.
San Francisco won seven games in 2006 but dropped that total to five wins last year. Have they improved enough to get past the oddsmakers’ 6 win total?


Sportsbook.com is the largest sports book and casino on the planet, where millions of adult Americans bet on sports, play poker and enjoy blackjack and other casino games online in a regulated and licensed jurisdiction.