NFL Week 15 Betting – Eagles in Tough vs Cards
By Zack Garrison in NFL Football
Updated: January 17, 2018 at 9:39 am ESTPublished:
Arizona Cardinals (-3.5, 51 o/u) at Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles (6-7, 3-3 Home) sit in a three-way tie for first in the horrid NFC East, but they could find themselves a game off the pace come Monday as they host the powerhouse Arizona Cardinals (11-2, 6-1 Away) at Lincoln Financial Field this weekend (Sunday, Dec. 20, at 8:30 PM Eastern).
The Eagles are a game under .500 but have won two straight against quality competition, upsetting the New England Patriots two weeks ago (35-28) and then beating the Buffalo Bills last week (23-20). The win streak moved them level with Washington and New York (Giants) at the top of the division with just three games left to play.
Oft-injured QB Sam Bradford returned to the lineup playing his best football of the year. He still hasn’t been particularly good, but – like most of his team – he was absolutely dreadful out of the gate. The Oklahoma product knows his squad is somewhat lucky to be in the position it is, where it can assure itself of a playoff berth by winning out.
“To start the year the way we did and kind of dig ourselves in a hole, it was unlikely that we would be in this position this late in the year,” Bradford told the Associated Press. “But for us to control our own destiny where we don’t have to depend on anyone else, and if we take care of our business, we will end up where we want to be. I think that’s all you can ask for.”
Big things were expected from the Philly offense this year after they traded for Bradford, a former first-overall pick, and signed 2014 rushing champ DeMarco Murray. But head coach Chip Kelly hasn’t been able to piece the puzzle together just yet and the Eagles are averaging just 23.2 points per game, squarely in the middle of the NFL pack.
Murray, in particular, has been a bust; he has just 603 yards on 174 carries (3.5 YPC average). Kelly has finally started to stop bashing his head against the Murray-wall, giving the bulk of the carries to Ryan Mathews, Darren Sproles, and Kenjon Barner over the past two weeks, and the move has paid off. But Murray isn’t happy about his decreased touches and now some reports indicate that he wants out at the end of the season.
No matter who is getting the carries for Philly this weekend, they’ll find themselves face-to-face with an Arizona defense that ranks top-five against the run (87 YPG). Arizona’s stout defense has helped guide the team to seven straight wins and second-place in the NFC. The Cards have all but clinched the NFC West and, as long as they don’t collapse down the stretch, will earn a bye in the first round of the playoffs.
Head coach Bruce Arians knows that the first-round bye would be a massive boon to his veteran-laden squad.
“Somebody texted me, ‘Hey, you punched your ticket [to the playoffs].’ I said, `Yeah, we’re trying to upgrade to first class,'” said Arians in a midweek press conference.
The Cardinals don’t just boast a sound defense, of course. Carson Palmer has his squad averaging 31.2 points per game this season, second in the NFL. The ground game has been solid, but Palmer’s arm has been even better. Arizona is putting up nearly 300 passing yards per game and the USC product has showed his accuracy on the deep ball time and time again.
His proclivity for taking deep shots is top of mind for the Philly defense.
“We know Arizona’s going to take 6-to-8 shots [down field] a game. That’s what they do,” Eagles defensive coordinator Billy Davis told the Associated Press. “That’s part of the reason they are the No. 1 offense in the NFL in a lot of categories right now. We’ve got to stay disciplined.”
Significant betting trends: The Eagles are 0-7 ATS in their last seven games as a home underdog. Arizona is 5-2 ATS in its last seven road games.
The Eagles are riding a nice streak, but only beat the Pats thanks to turnovers and special teams. Their offense still doesn’t look capable of keeping up with the likes of Arizona, as long as the Cardinals don’t beat themselves.
Pick: Cardinals -3.5.
(Photo credit: FF Swami (flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode].)
Sports Writer
Zack is a tour guide whose favorite sports are football, baseball, and golf. He enjoys giving obnoxious commentary during games and hopes to some day write a book about sports. His favorite underdog victory was the Diamondbacks beating the Yankees in game 7 of the World Series.
