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The Cardinals will be in front of their home fans on Sunday, but a look at the spread shows they might need that home-field advantage. They will take on the Atlanta Falcons at 4:05 p.m. ET on Sunday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Arizona's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Sunday after their sixth straight loss. There's no need to mince words: the Cardinals lost to the Browns, and the Cardinals lost bad. The score wound up at 27-0. Arizona was already down big by the end of the third quarter and they stayed that way after failing to score in the fourth.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, the Cardinals weren't very productive in the air and finished the game with only 58 passing yards. They were dismantled by their opponents in that department as the Browns passed for 219.
Meanwhile, the point spread may have favored Atlanta last Sunday, but the final result did not. They fell just short of the Vikings by a score of 31-28. Atlanta has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Despite the loss, the Falcons had strong showings from Taylor Heinicke, who threw for 268 yards and a touchdown, and Jonnu Smith, who picked up 100 receiving yards and a touchdown. Smith was no stranger to the big play, lighting up the secondary with a catch that went for 60 yards. Younghoe Koo did his part by putting the 'special' in special teams, booting in four field goals and two extra points.
Arizona's defeat was their eighth straight on the road (dating back to last season), which bumped their record down to 1-8. That rough patch could be blamed on the team's lackluster offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 12.3 points per game. As for Atlanta, they have not been sharp recently, as they've lost three of their last four contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-5 record this season.
Not only did the Falcons and the Cardinals lose their last games, but neither team managed to cover the spread. Going forward, the Falcons are the favorite in this one, as the experts expect to see them win by 1.5 points. Bettors picking them against the spread have some confidence (to put it mildly), as the team is sitting on a five-game streak of failing to cover when expected to win.
Arizona and Atlanta were neck-and-neck in their previous meeting back in January, but Arizona came up empty-handed after a 20-19 defeat. Will the Cardinals have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to find expert analysis of the match and other NFL content.
