BetAnySports Sportsbook Online>
Home / Football / A Look at the Arizona Cardinals Defense – NFC Championship Game Betting Preview

A Look at the Arizona Cardinals Defense – NFC Championship Game Betting Preview

  • Updated: January 23, 2016
    • A Look at the Arizona Cardinals Defense NFC Championship Game Betting Preview

    Cardinals Missing Key Part of “D” vs. Panthers

    By Charles Jay

    Join BetAnySports NOW to bet on the NFL online!

    Everybody knows that the Arizona Cardinals have very explosive capabilities on the offensive side of the football. But the biggest question as the NFC Championship Game approaches might be whether the Cards can deal with an offense that has produced even more points than they have. We speak, of course, about the Carolina Panthers. The stage is set for a good one as these teams meet at Bank Of America Stadium in Charlotte, with the kickoff scheduled for 6:40 PM ET on Sunday. And you know what? Even after they blow the opening whistle, BetAnySports customers can make their NFL playoff picks in real time through the facilities of Live Betting Extra.

    BetAnySports NFC Championship BETTING LINE:

    In the reduced juice NFL playoff odds on this game, established at BetAnySports, the Cardinals are catching points:

    Carolina Panthers -3 (-110)
    Arizona Cardinals +3 (+100)

    Over 47.5 points -108
    Under 47.5 points -102

    A Look at the Arizona Cardinals Defense NFC Championship Game Betting Preview

    The Panthers, who captured the #1 seed in the NFC, are now 16-1 straight-up after escaping with a 31-24 win over Seattle last week. They are also 11-5 against the football pointspread. The Cardinals also had a first-round bye, and beat Green Bay in overtime last week. They are 14-3 straight-up and 9-8 ATS.

    Carolina scored 500 points, constituting an average of 31.3 points, and they were right on the mark last week, tallying 31 against the Seahawks – all in the first half. They have scored at least 27 points in fourteen of their 17 contests.

    So as you can imagine, the Arizona stop unit has a big job to do against the likely MVP of the league, Cam Newton.

    Carolina led the league in takeaways, and among those were 24 interceptions. Arizona had 19 INT’s, and they had a couple of All-Pros in the secondary with cornerback Patrick Peterson and safety Tyrann Mathieu. Peterson is one of those “shutdown” corners who has the ability to take the other team’s best wide receiver out of the game, which is ideal if a team wants to lend extra support somewhere else. Carolina does not have overly imposing people at the wide receiver position; Ted Ginn is probably the fastest guy they have out there, and he has been dealing with a knee injury lately. In fact, he was targeted only once by Newton last week. If he isn’t going to be a threat, Peterson might be able to concentrate on someone else, perhaps rookie Devin Funchess, who has averaged over 15 yards a reception.

    Join BetAnySports NOW to bet on the NFL online!

    BetAnySports patrons know that the pass-catcher they really have to stop is Greg Olsen, the tight end who is easily one of the league’s best at his position, with 77 receptions for 1104 yards. One of the ballhawks they will be missing is Mathieu, known more affectionately as the “Honey Badger,” a label that goes back to his days at LSU. This is the year Mathieu really came of age, with 89 tackles and five interceptions. He was coach Bruce Arians’ favorite player on the roster, and he was visibly shaken when he had to announce that his safety star was out for the season with an ACL tear suffered in a 40-17 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.

    “I thought he should be right there with Patrick [Peterson] for defensive player of the year,” said Arians, and the coach was not alone in that opinion. Obviously, getting voted onto the All-Pro team was an indication of how highly he was thought of.

    Has this defense been the same since? Well, it is hard to make a definitive determination, but the Cardinals have given up 740 yards (370 average) in two games after he went down. That compares with a 326-per game average for the entire season. And teams have rushed for 4.7 yards a pop against them. They’ll have to do better than that, or win a real shootout, if they want to get to the Super Bowl.

    BetAnySports gets you going strong with a free play bonus, and then keeps it up with reduced juice on your NFL playoff betting…….Keep in mind that your Visa card is available for transactions, in addition to person-to-person transfers and Bitcoin – the virtual currency!

    A Look at the Arizona Cardinals Defense NFC Championship Game Betting Preview

    For great information on ONLINE SPORTS BETTING and the NFC Championship, visit eBetting101.com.