The Detroit Lions (+200,000 to win Super Bowl 53) and the Arizona Cardinals aren’t the sexiest of teams this season. But sometimes, two horrible franchises make for an entertaining matchup, which is a reason why you should watch these two teams square off in Glendale this Sunday. The sportsbook predicts a close one, with the spread set at just 2.5-points in favor of the visiting team.
The Lions are merely waiting for this season to end. With nothing to play for, Detroit will just have to collect as many wins as possible to salvage some respect in yet another disappointing campaign. In a 30-16 loss to the Los Angeles Rams at home last Sunday, the Lions didn’t help themselves by being careless on offense. Matthew Stafford passed for 245 yards and a touchdown with an interception, while losing a fumble to record both Detroit turnovers in the game. He was constantly pressured by the Rams’ defense, which sacked him four times for a loss of 37 yards. It’s hard to make a case for these Lions, but there’s some level of confidence in them having to face an equally pathetic unit in the form of the Cardinals.
The Lions, who are averaging 21.2 points per game and allowing 26.3 points per contest, should do better against an Arizona team that hasn’t done much this season for bettors to feel good about it either.
The Lions are 3-2 ATS in their last five road games.
Betting on the Arizona Cardinals (3-9)
Arizona arrested its three-game losing skid last week, by shocking the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in Week 13, 20-17. Rookie quarterback Josh Rosen is going to need some more time to become a reliable signal-caller for the Cardinals, but there’s little to question about his nerves. He went 11 of 26 for 149 passing yards with no touchdowns and zero interceptions, and also got sacked twice for a loss of 16 yards. Another rookie stepped up in the Packers game, with Chase Edmonds racking up 53 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just five touches. That’s a solid performance in a supporting role for Edmonds, who is behind star David Johnson in the backfield pecking order. Johnson rushed for 69 yards on 20 carries. Both running backs could deal some heavy damage against Detroit, which has a middle of the road stop unit that’s only 19th in the league with 119.8 rushing yards surrendered per contest.
The under us 6-4 in the Cardinals’ last 10 games overall.
