jimmythegreek
The opening odds start here
Arizona -2.5 over Detroit (bought half):
Call it a coincidence, but the Cardinals ran into a defensive buzzsaw against St. Louis last week where despite looking relatively immortal on offense previously, never got a lead nor a consistent rhythm in a 24-22 loss at Glendale. Not exactly a prime spot for the winless Lions (0-4) to be next on the schedule as head coach Jim Caldwell finds himself on the coveted hot seat. Rookie Todd Gurley carried 19 times for 146 yards (7.7) while Nick Foles completed 16/24 for 171 yards and 3 TD as the Rams surprised the Cardinals 24-22. Tavon Austin caught 6 passes for 96 yards and 2 scores and the Rams defense came up big when it counted forcing 3 turnovers and 5 Arizona field goals by Chandler Cantazaro. Carson Palmer (29/46 352 1 TD 1 INT) couldn't lead Arizona to the end zone until late in the 4th quarter hooking up with David Johnson (4-63 1 TD) on a 23 yard scoring toss. Gurley, who was delayed in his pro debut by a knee injury, gained 9 yards in six carries (1.5) in his debut last week against Pittsburgh and had 5 yards on three attempts (1.7) in the first half Sunday. The Cardinals scored touchdowns in 11 of 12 trips to the red zone in the first three games but were just 1 for 5 in Sunday's defeat. Without Marshawn Lynch sidelined with a hamstring injury, Seattle's Russell Wilson completed 20/26 for 287 yards and a TD as the Seahawks edged the Lions 13-10 at CenturyLink Field. Doug Baldwin (3-36 1 TD) helped open the scoring catching a 24 yard TD pass from Wilson, and the Seattle defense did the rest holding Detroit to just 256 yards of total offense. Steven Hauschka converted 2 52 yard field goals, and the outcome came down to a controversial non-call. Kam Chancellor knocked the ball free from Detroit wide receiver Calvin Johnson at the 1-yard line when it appeared the Lions were going to take the lead. With Detroit on the verge of capping a 91-yard drive Chancellor came from the side and punched the ball from Johnson's arm as he was being tackled by Earl Thomas. It bounded into the end zone where it was guided over the back line by K.J. Wright for a touchback and Seattle's ball at the 20. Wright should have been called for an illegal bat for hitting the ball out of the end zone, but no flags were thrown. That wasted a 24/35 203 yard effort by Matthew Stafford, but Seattle did it's job defensively holding the Lions to just 56 yards rushing.
Palmer (85/134 1155 10 TD 3 INT) seems to have rediscovered the fountain of youth especially with the emergence of top target Larry Fitzgerald (30-432 5 TD), who caught 7 passes for 99 yards in a losing effort last week. Arizona has the 4th overall offense in the NFL, 7th in the passing game. John Brown (19-228 1 TD) lines up opposite Fitzgerald and provides versatility in running shorter outes in the open field. Chris Johnson (68-302 4.4 2 TD) is also off to a nice start, and should endure some success against a Detroit run defense that allows about 113 yards per contest. Arizona’s offense features a unique balance of rushing and passing. The Lions will need to stop both. Establishing their own ground game would be beneficial in this case. Remaining balanced and unpredictable against an aggressive Arizona defense is the only recipe for success.
Stafford (106/163 1017 5 TD 5 INT) was turnover free last week but endured little success moving the ball for the most part against a stout Seattle defense. While his efficiency numbers are fairly accurate, the end result has not resulted in a considerable amount of points. Johnson (27-255 1 TD) has not been as much of a factor as originally hoped, however a couple of key drops and miscommunication routes have contributed to three and outs leading to punts. When Johnson is struggling to defy opposing coverages, Stafford has Golden Tate (18-190) as a secondary option. There's not much to lean on when it comes to the running game, which is 3rd worst in the league averaging just 47 yards on the ground. Detroit's playbook is basically one dimensional and for Stafford to be protected needs cooperation from a line that has allowed plenty of faults. It's apparent that the Lions are squandering massive offensive potential. Their cast of weapons on paper strikes one as an explosive team, but their actual results indicate the contrary. Since jumping out to a lead in week one with 21 points in the first half against the Chargers, they have scored 45 points in 14 quarters of play. Simply dreadful by standards.
Stafford is limited to do his thing out of the pocket especially under constant duress, which will likey be to the advantage of Tyrann Mathieu and Alex Okafor. Palmer has played well and will look to alleviate a lot of stalled drives last week by hoping to cash in more to the end zone from last week's upset. Ezekiel Ansah already has 4 sacks on the season, so it may be a test for Palmer to elude the pass rush. However Detroit's pass defense is vulnerable allowing nearly 273 yards per contest. If pressure cannot be applied on Palmer, look for him to take advantage early which means an uphill climb for Stafford and a one-dimensional attack.
Call it a coincidence, but the Cardinals ran into a defensive buzzsaw against St. Louis last week where despite looking relatively immortal on offense previously, never got a lead nor a consistent rhythm in a 24-22 loss at Glendale. Not exactly a prime spot for the winless Lions (0-4) to be next on the schedule as head coach Jim Caldwell finds himself on the coveted hot seat. Rookie Todd Gurley carried 19 times for 146 yards (7.7) while Nick Foles completed 16/24 for 171 yards and 3 TD as the Rams surprised the Cardinals 24-22. Tavon Austin caught 6 passes for 96 yards and 2 scores and the Rams defense came up big when it counted forcing 3 turnovers and 5 Arizona field goals by Chandler Cantazaro. Carson Palmer (29/46 352 1 TD 1 INT) couldn't lead Arizona to the end zone until late in the 4th quarter hooking up with David Johnson (4-63 1 TD) on a 23 yard scoring toss. Gurley, who was delayed in his pro debut by a knee injury, gained 9 yards in six carries (1.5) in his debut last week against Pittsburgh and had 5 yards on three attempts (1.7) in the first half Sunday. The Cardinals scored touchdowns in 11 of 12 trips to the red zone in the first three games but were just 1 for 5 in Sunday's defeat. Without Marshawn Lynch sidelined with a hamstring injury, Seattle's Russell Wilson completed 20/26 for 287 yards and a TD as the Seahawks edged the Lions 13-10 at CenturyLink Field. Doug Baldwin (3-36 1 TD) helped open the scoring catching a 24 yard TD pass from Wilson, and the Seattle defense did the rest holding Detroit to just 256 yards of total offense. Steven Hauschka converted 2 52 yard field goals, and the outcome came down to a controversial non-call. Kam Chancellor knocked the ball free from Detroit wide receiver Calvin Johnson at the 1-yard line when it appeared the Lions were going to take the lead. With Detroit on the verge of capping a 91-yard drive Chancellor came from the side and punched the ball from Johnson's arm as he was being tackled by Earl Thomas. It bounded into the end zone where it was guided over the back line by K.J. Wright for a touchback and Seattle's ball at the 20. Wright should have been called for an illegal bat for hitting the ball out of the end zone, but no flags were thrown. That wasted a 24/35 203 yard effort by Matthew Stafford, but Seattle did it's job defensively holding the Lions to just 56 yards rushing.
Palmer (85/134 1155 10 TD 3 INT) seems to have rediscovered the fountain of youth especially with the emergence of top target Larry Fitzgerald (30-432 5 TD), who caught 7 passes for 99 yards in a losing effort last week. Arizona has the 4th overall offense in the NFL, 7th in the passing game. John Brown (19-228 1 TD) lines up opposite Fitzgerald and provides versatility in running shorter outes in the open field. Chris Johnson (68-302 4.4 2 TD) is also off to a nice start, and should endure some success against a Detroit run defense that allows about 113 yards per contest. Arizona’s offense features a unique balance of rushing and passing. The Lions will need to stop both. Establishing their own ground game would be beneficial in this case. Remaining balanced and unpredictable against an aggressive Arizona defense is the only recipe for success.
Stafford (106/163 1017 5 TD 5 INT) was turnover free last week but endured little success moving the ball for the most part against a stout Seattle defense. While his efficiency numbers are fairly accurate, the end result has not resulted in a considerable amount of points. Johnson (27-255 1 TD) has not been as much of a factor as originally hoped, however a couple of key drops and miscommunication routes have contributed to three and outs leading to punts. When Johnson is struggling to defy opposing coverages, Stafford has Golden Tate (18-190) as a secondary option. There's not much to lean on when it comes to the running game, which is 3rd worst in the league averaging just 47 yards on the ground. Detroit's playbook is basically one dimensional and for Stafford to be protected needs cooperation from a line that has allowed plenty of faults. It's apparent that the Lions are squandering massive offensive potential. Their cast of weapons on paper strikes one as an explosive team, but their actual results indicate the contrary. Since jumping out to a lead in week one with 21 points in the first half against the Chargers, they have scored 45 points in 14 quarters of play. Simply dreadful by standards.
Stafford is limited to do his thing out of the pocket especially under constant duress, which will likey be to the advantage of Tyrann Mathieu and Alex Okafor. Palmer has played well and will look to alleviate a lot of stalled drives last week by hoping to cash in more to the end zone from last week's upset. Ezekiel Ansah already has 4 sacks on the season, so it may be a test for Palmer to elude the pass rush. However Detroit's pass defense is vulnerable allowing nearly 273 yards per contest. If pressure cannot be applied on Palmer, look for him to take advantage early which means an uphill climb for Stafford and a one-dimensional attack.