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Carolina Panthers vs. Arizona Cardinals Betting Picks & Week 5 Preview

Carolina vs Arizona NFL Football Spread/Handicapping

The Panthers will arrive in the desert on Sunday off a 38-0 shellacking of the New York Giants, and will face a Cardinals team that is beaming with confidence as it pulled to.500 on the year after a come-from-behind win over Tampa Bay last time out.

Arizona is 2-2 so far on the season and 3-1 ATS, while Carolina is 1-2 and 1-2 ATS.

When: Sunday, Oct. 6, 2013 at 4:05 PM EST
Where: University of Phoenix Stadium
TV: FOX
LINE: -1 1/2 (Panthers), O/U 41 1/2
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Following a pair of very close loses, Carolina dominated the Giants, rolling up 402 total yards and holding New York to 150.

The offense appears to have found its groove behind the tandem of DeAngelo Williams and Cam Newton, who have powered an impressive ground attack the past two games. Williams has rushed for 417 yards and two TDs in four meetings with Arizona, including three 100-yard games.

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The defense meanwhile, tied a franchise-record with seven sacks and forced three turnovers against New York. Now the Panthers will pit their No. 6-rated road run defense, which is allowing 83.67 yards per game, against an Arizona rushing offense that is rated No. 24 at home.

Nevertheless, the Cardinals passing attack has averaged 242 yards per game, more than the Panthers give up, which could keep the defense on its toes. [soliloquy id=”82219″]

In their last game, the Cardinals came out on top of the Buccaneers by a score of 13-10.

Still, Arizona’s offense isn’t really getting it done.  The running game has been ineffective, ranking 26th in the league with 78.8 yards per game.

And if not for a pair of interceptions, Arizona might have lost to Tampa Bay. But thanks to its defense, which has been dominant against the run – ranking second in the league – Arizona was able to stay in the game and win it.

However, the unit will have its work cut out against a Panthers team averaging 151 yards on the ground.

Matt’s Free Prediction

The Cardinals snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Panthers with a 28-21 win in the most recent meeting in 2011, but I don’t expect that to happen again.

What I do expect is a hard-fought battle that will be decided on how well the Panthers run at the Cardinals. Very well, I imagine.

And even though the Cards D is tough, I don’t think they will be very effective vs. the duo of Williams and Newton.

Cats win by a field goal.

Panthers 23, Cardinals 20.

By Matt Martz

Matt has returned to CappersPicks.com. The pull was too great. He missed providing his free picks and insider sports gambling analysis to his loyal readers. Please take it easy on him till he gets back into his groove. Cheers!