NFL Week 13 Best Bet: Will the Cardinals Fly High Against the Rams?
The Game:
Los Angeles Rams at Arizona Cardinals
The Play: Over/Under: Cardinals +165
This Los Angeles Rams team has checked out for the season after their blowout loss on Monday night against the Baltimore Ravens. They were pathetic on both sides of the ball and, honestly, have been a dumpster fire for about a month now. Jared Goff went another game without throwing a touchdown pass and they still do not have a 100-yard rusher in a game this season. In fact, the Rams are 24th in the league in rushing yards overall.
In the last 13+ quarters, the Rams have scored just two touchdowns. That means since the very early moments of the 3rd quarter of Week 8 against the Bengals, the Rams have found the endzone just twice. This team is just bad and it’s hard to believe this is the same team that represented the NFC in last year’s Super Bowl. Goff has more turnovers than touchdown passes and again, the running game is a disaster’ with only had 21 yards on the ground versus the Ravens. Even defensive star Aaron Donald’s numbers are down from his 20.5 sack season last year, totaling just eight sacks on the season and was quiet as a church mouse against the Ravens.
The Cardinals at least continue to keep working hard and staying in games for first year head coach Kliff Kingsbury. We all saw what San Francisco did to Green Bay on Sunday night, well, just the week before, this young Cardinals team—led by rookie quarterback Tyler Murray—had the Niners on the ropes. They started the game by taking a 16-0 lead and the 49ers needed a last-minute touchdown to win the game (and a game ending touchdown to beat the spread in one of the worst bad beats in history).
So, while the Cardinals gave the 49er a game, how did the Rams do? Well, they got buried by the Niners at home. Murray has been a special player for the Cards with 14 touchdowns and only five picks, and happens to be the team leader in rushing with 418 yards and three scores. Look for linebackers Chandler Jones (12.5 sacks) and Jordan Hicks (111 tackles) to wreak havoc on the struggling Goff all day long. The Cards are a 3.5-point underdog, but the Rams are toast and the Cards win straight up at home.
The Prediction:
28 Arizona Cardinals
9 Los Angeles Rams
Harry Gagnon spent 14 years as a Vegas Sportsbook Supervisor and holds a Communications degree from SUNY-Oswego. You might know him better as part of the Degenerate Trifecta on the award nominated betting podcast “Against All odds with Cousin Sal” on the Ringer Podcast Network. Feel free to find him on Twitter (@AAOHarry) and tweet him a message if you want to talk casinos, sports, or just shoot the breeze about betting in general cause, hey, that’s what Twitter is for, right?
