NFL Betting Arizona @ New England
The New England Patriots (9-5 SU, 7-7 ATS) are still fighting to win the AFC East. On Sunday they will try to get a leg up in that three-way race when they play host to the Arizona Cardinals (8-6 SU & ATS) in NFL pro football sports betting action that is scheduled to take place at 1 PM ET at Gillette Stadium (artificial turf) in Foxboro, MA.
In the BetUS NFL football betting odds, the Patriots are listed as a 7.5-point favorite, with a posted total of 45 points.
BetUS NFL betting odds: NEW ENGLAND -7.5, Total 45
NOTABLE STAT: Cardinals lead the league with 303.4 ypg passing on the road
KEY NFL FOOTBALL BETTING TREND: Pats are 2-10 ATS in last 12 home games
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* ARIZ has covered two of its last six games
* ARIZ has played eight of its last 11 games OVER the total
* ARIZ has lost 18 of its last 25 road games SU
* ARIZ has played 13 of its last 19 road games OVER the total
* NE has covered eight of its last 23 games
* NE has won 19 of its last 25 games SU
* NE has played its last five games OVER the total
* NE has covered two of its last 12 home games
* NE has won 18 of its last 22 home games SU
* NE has played nine of its last 13 home games UNDER the total
Also…
* NE has won and covered four of the last five meetings
* Four of the last five meetings have gone UNDER the total
Arizona can not run the ball; that much is known. The Cards have gained just 154 total yards on the ground over the last four games. Running it hasn’t been necessary to win a division title, but it could be important as Arizona tries to move forward in the post-season. When coming to the east coast to play they have not been able to stop teams either, giving up 56 points to the Jets, 37 to the Giants and 48 to the Eagles. If you look very close you’ll see that they are not playing very well against the better teams. Outside of the 31-10 win over a Miami team that hadn’t gotten itself going yet, and the overtime victory over the Cowboys, the Cards have failed badly against those other teams who might be appearing in the playoffs.
The Cardinals’ problems might be magnified on Sunday, as they could be encountering snow (60% chance of it occurring) as well as windy conditions. This puts more pressure on Kurt Warner (68%, 26 TD’s) and his pair of receivers who were selected to the Pro Bowl this week – Anquan Boldin (1038 yards) and Larry Fitzgerald (1200 yards), because the best Tim Hightower has been able to do is 2.9 yards a carry, and beyond a 109-yard game against the Rams almost two months ago, he’s contributed very little outside of the five-yard line.
It looks like New England is much more well-prepared to slug it out in the trenches, as they rambled for 277 yards last week against Oakland with a running game that is getting its “legs” back, with Sammy Morris (117 yards), Lamont Jordan (97) and Kevin Faulk (45) all pitching in.
Idle question: did anybody think, during training camp, that Matt Leinart, the former Heisman winner, would be sitting this one out while his USC backup, Matt Cassel (a 64% passer with 18 touchdowns) would be the starting QB for a team possibly going to the playoffs?
Here you have a matchup between a team that has already clinched its division title and may not be sure about how to “cruise” into the post-season and a team that is used to these playoff runs and is now fighting for its life. The bottom line here is that a team of champions who is desperate is a very difficult thing for Arizona, a team that is relatively unaccomplished, to deal with.
We are laying the points with the Patriots, the 7.5-point favorite in the BetUS Sportsbook NFL pro football betting odds.
