LOUIS ROSS (@LouisRoss67) tackles the Thursday night’s NFL contest from Arizona.
Minnesota Vikings @ Arizona Cardinals | Friday 01.25 | Sky Sports 4
Thursday night and we are back with the Cardinals who were part of our winning treble last Sunday after a ridiculously easy win in St Louis.
I wrote before the game that the stats would lead you into betting your house on Arizona. They may not beat Adrian Peterson and the Vikings by 24 points but there are sound reasons to believe in a fairly easy victory for the 10-2 hosts.
Minnesota sit at 8-4 in the NFC North and are fighting it out with Green Bay for top spot. A 38-7 thrashing by Seattle did not help their cause but when Peterson is restricted to 18 yards on eight carries, the Vikings are always going to have a problem winning games.
What is of more concern going into this game is a very banged up defence. This unit sits fourth in the NFL for points allowed per-game but last Sunday saw them give up 433 yards total offence. Give up that kind of ground and you will always lose in the NFL.
So you are starting a game without four starters on defence. The last thing you need is to come up against the number one ranked offence in pro football.
Arizona ranks first in yards-per-game, points-per-game, passing yards, third down completions and almost every other offensive category – that is an elite offence in every way.
Carson Palmer is playing the best football of his entire career, Larry Fitzgerald having his best season in a very long time and with Floyd, Brown, David Johnson and the rest, Arizona has the greatest depth in receiving of any roster out there.
David Johnson has a very attractive line of 72.5 with Bet365 – it is 80 plus with most. I would not put anyone off of that after his 99-yard performance in St Louis and season ending injury to CJ2K. As pointed out by @DarkDyson, this may turn out to be a game that is over fairly early and so some of the starters may not play the usual number of snaps.
Hard to see anything but an Arizona win here. Even the defence ranks highly, especially against the run where they sit fourth. A crucial stat as the Vikings’ best chance will be to get Peterson going again. I am taking Arizona to win comfortably and cover the spread.
Best Bets
Minnesota Vikings @ Arizona Cardinals – Arizona Cardinals -8 handicap (10/11 SkyBet)
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