Saints Cardinals Betting – Cardinals Improve, But Still Fall Short Against Saints
Online betting players watched Arizona get slaughtered last week in San Diego, and now the Cardinals could have a quarterback controversy as they prepare to welcome the defending Super Bowl champions from New Orleans to town. The Arizona Cardinals have to show some pride after last week’s performance, and they will, but it still won’t be enough to beat the New Orleans Saints.
- What: NFL betting
- When: Sunday, October 10th, 4:05 PM ET
- Where: University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ
- Pick: New Orleans Saints -7
What’s On The Line
The Saints (3-1) haven’t been playing their best football, but they managed to come away with a 16-14 win over the Carolina Panthers at home in a hard-fought battle. The Cardinals (2-2) were downright embarrassed in San Diego, where the Chargers routed them 41-10. The Saints are trying to get on track in this meeting of the last two NFC champions, but the Cardinals are looking to prove that they aren’t pushovers like they showed against the San Diego Chargers.
Offensive Matchups: Saints Cardinals Betting
New Orleans’ offense has fallen to 12th in the league, but they dominated Carolina, holding the ball for over 38 minutes, and they were 8-of-14 on third down. However, the Saints were also a pitiful 1-of-5 in the red zone and they also committed a couple of turnovers, making mistakes that last year’s Saints wouldn’t make. As always, the potential to explode on someone is there in New Orleans.
We don’t even know if Derek Anderson is going to start after the fiasco in San Diego, as he was pulled by coach Ken Whisenhunt after going 7-of-14 for 64 yards and a pair of picks. He probably will be back as the Cardinals only have rookie Max Hall backing him up, but Anderson has to pick up his game if the Cardinals are going to improve. The offensive line didn’t do the quarterbacks any favors, giving up nine sacks.
Betting Edge: Saints
Defensive Matchups: Saints Cardinals Betting
The Saints held the Panthers to 251 yards, but to be fair to Carolina, they were starting rookie Jimmy Clausen at quarterback, and the Panthers still managed to move the ball, especially late. The Saints gave up an average of 5.1 yards per carry as well, and they forced just one turnover, which is what they do best. New Orleans did have three sacks and were constantly in Clausen’s face, and coordinator Gregg Williams did a fine job of disguising coverages to confuse the rookies.
The Cardinals are 29th in the league defensively, seven spots worse than New Orleans, and they were chewed up by the Chargers to the tune of 419 yards. The Cardinals had no idea what to do with tight end Antonio Gates, who had seven catches for 144 yards and a pair of scores, and on a couple of occasions, all you could do was wonder, “how do you leave a guy like Antonio Gates THAT open?”. Arizona’s run defense gave up 180 yards. They have to show some pride this weekend.
Betting Edge: Saints
Notable Injuries: Saints Cardinals Betting
The players to watch in New Orleans are running back Pierre Thomas (ankle), safeties Roman Harper (hamstring), Pierson Prioleau (lung) and Chris Reis (shoulder), along with linebacker Anthony Waters. Running back Reggie Bush (leg) is still out.
Receivers Steve Breaston (knee) and Early Doucet (groin) are still worries for the Cardinals.
Betting Edge: Draw
Outlook and Pick: Saints Cardinals Betting
NFL betting odds have the Saints as a 7-point favorite on the road, and they haven’t been to Arizona since 2004. The Cardinals are 2-3 SU and 1-4 ATS in their last five meetings with the Saints, and we think it’ll go that way again this week. The Saints have been eking out close wins despite not playing well, and while the Cardinals will play much, much better than they did in San Diego, they still don’t have stability at quarterback, and we’re taking Drew Brees all day, every day. The Arizona offense is in complete disarray, and it’s going to cost them in a sports betting loss to the Saints.
Stan’s Pick: New Orleans Saints
