Arizona Favored By 10 At Home Over Carolina

NFL News - October 27th, 2009 - Written by Scott

The Carolina Panthers will travel to play the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday in an important NFC showdown. The Cardinals are in first place in the NFC west and hold a one game lead over San Fransisco. Arizona Cardinals (4-2) got a big win on Sunday as they got past the New York Giants 24-17. Turnovers plagued the Panthers last weekend as they lost to Buffalo 20-9. Carolina (2-4) is not mathematically out of it in the NFC South, but will need to get wins and alot of help to get into contention.

The Arizona offense has relied completely on their passing game for the 2009 NFL Season and they are ranked 7th in the league in this category. Quarterback Kurt Warner is their leader on offense and had passed for 1,672 yards and 9 touchdowns. A expected, wide outs Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin have emerged as the leaders in their receiving group. They have combined for 824 yards and 6 touchdowns. The Cardinals' running game has been non-existent all year and is ranked last in the league with only 60 yards per game. Tim Hightower and Beanie Wells have combined for only 358 yards and 5 touchdowns. They will need to improve in this area if they intend to get back to the Super Bowl.

The Cardinals' defense is allowing 18 points per game, but is getting abused through the air where they are allowing 257 yards per game. They do, however, excel in stopping the run and are only giving up 67 yards per game which ranks 1st in the league.

The reason the Carolina Panthers have only won 2 games is due to their struggles in the passing game where they have thrown 14 interceptions this year. Jake Delhomme is their quarterback and he has passed for 1,172 yards and 4 touchdowns with 13 picks. His status as their starter has been in question this week, but it appears he will retain his job against Arizona. Steve Smith was expected to have a big year, but he has only 358 yards receiving and has not found the end zone. The lone bright spot in their offense has been their running game. DeAngelo Williams has rushed for 461 yards and 5 touchdowns.

Their defense has been an issue as well this year and they are allowing 24 points per game. They are 4th in the league in total yards allowed with just 282 yards per game. The Panthers bring in the top ranked passing defense in the league, but have experienced problems in stopping the run as they are giving up a 133 yards on the ground per game.

The Arizona Cardinals will be favored by 10 at home over the Carolina Panthers according to Betus Sportsbook and the over/under is set at 41 1/2. Arizona is 9-2 ATS in its last 11 games and the total has gone over in 6 of the Panthers last 7 games on the road.

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