Arizona Cardinals vs. Buffalo Bills Preview
Where: New Era Field, Buffalo
When: Sunday, September 25, 2016, 1:00 PM ET
Line: Arizona Cardinals (-4) at Buffalo Bills (+4); total: 46.5 – view all NFL lines
TV Broadcast: FOX
Writer’s Pick: Arizona Cardinals (-4)
Betting on the Arizona Cardinals (-4)
Carson Palmer was flawless. He threw for 308 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions to his team. The same could be said for the Arizona defense, as it managed to hold Jameis Winston to just 77 passing yards in the first 30 minutes of the game, and intercepted four of his passes. Those Tampa Bay turnovers resulted to 17 total points for the Cardinals, by the way.
That excellent display from both sides of the field should likely guarantee the Cardinals another win in Sunday’s showdown with the winless Bills. You can also expect Palmer to look for his favorite targets—David Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald and Jaron Brown—downfield more aggressively against a Buffalo defense that allowed 37 points and nearly 400 passing yards to the Jets last Thursday night.
Johnson led all receivers with 98 yards on three catches in the win over Tampa Bay. Fitzgerald and Brown, meanwhile, scored a touchdown each and combined for 159 yards on eight receptions, six of those catches were courtesy of the former.
Arizona is 4-1 SU and 3-2 ATS in its previous five road games. The Cardinals, however, have lost four of the last five meetings with the Bills, the latest of which happened back in the 2012 season.
Betting on the Buffalo Bills (+4)
Almost a week after seeing the offense stumble in a season-opening loss to Baltimore, the Buffalo Bills found themselves on the losing side once more in the following week versus a visiting Jets team.
This time, however, it wasn’t the offense that killed the Bills. It was their defense. The Jets outgained them in total offense (493-393), compiled 28 first downs and had seven drives across midfield. Their quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick had a relatively easy time in leading the offense, finishing with 374 passing yards together with a touchdown.
That second-straight setback certainly placed head coach Rex Ryan in an even hotter seat. He might end up losing his job anytime soon, or if the Bills falter once more in their next game against the Carson Palmer-led Cardinals this weekend.
The biggest key for the Bills here is to find some consistency on both ends of the field. Quarterback Tyrod Taylor did well in bouncing back from a non-existent performance in the first week, going for 298 yards on 18-of-30 passing with three scores and an interception versus the Jets. But now he’s in for another tough challenge of dissecting an Arizona defense that posted four interceptions in yesterday’s blowout win over Tampa Bay.
Over on defense, it is crucial for Buffalo’s pass rush to force Carson Palmer to make difficulty passes, or better yet, take him out of his game completely. The Bills corners, Stephon Gillmore and Ronald Darby, are supposedly the team’s strength, but both were repeatedly burned in coverage by the Jets receivers.
Buffalo is 6-4 SU and 6-4 ATS in its last 10 home games.
Writer’s Prediction
Arizona (-4) wins, 29-20.
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