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Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl Predictions

Written by Jimmy Boyd

Cardinals Football The Arizona Cardinals have defied the NFL odds makers and are now on the brink of pulling off the unthinkable. Usually, that long shot futures bet you place way back in August turns out to be a waste of money, but this year it could actually pay off for Arizona Cardinals backers. Vegas is either hoping against all hope when it set this line that the Cards will finally bite the dust to save them paying out any of those long shot bets or it actually is confident in the Steelers winning the Super Bowl for the second time in four seasons. The Arizona Cardinals are listed at +7 at BetUS.

The Super Bowl betting public almost always falls in love with the favorite for the big game, but the Cardinals have made believers out of bettors with early money rolling in on Arizona. Arizona is 3-0 in the postseason as an underdog. It opened as a 2-point underdog at home in the Wild Card round when it defeated the Atlanta Falcons 30-24. The Cardinals were a 10-point underdog in the Divisional round when they shocked the Carolina Panthers 33-13 on the road of all places. And the Cards were 3-point underdogs at home in the NFC Championship Game when it defeated an Eagles team 32-25 that had crushed them by 28 during the regular season. Perhaps, the Cardinals are a team of destiny.

The underdog has now covered the spread in five of the last seven Super Bowls with three of those underdogs winning outright. The New York Giants are the latest underdog to win outright and the Cardinals will hope to take a page out of their book. To Arizona’s benefit, unlike last year’s New York Giants team, the Cardinals have Super Bowl experience at the most critical position – quarterback.

Kurt Warner led the St. Louis Rams to a Super Bowl Championship in 2000 and was then edged out by the New England Patriots in 2002. Warner and his team has been favored in both of their previous Super Bowl appearances, but so far the veteran signal caller is embracing the underdog role.

This Super Bowl matchup is your classic defense versus offense battle. The Arizona Cardinals boast one of the NFL’s highest powered offenses while the Pittsburgh Steelers bring the best defense in the league to Tampa Bay. Warner leads an offense which ranks second in the NFL in passing yards per game with 291.9 and third in points per game with 26.7. Defensively, the Steelers rank No. 1 in the NFL in opposing both of those categories, allowing only 157.1 passing yards per game and only 13.9 points per contest. The Steelers will be facing a QB in Kurt Warner who is one of the most accurate passers in the game and also with one of the quickest releases I have seen since Dan Marino. I can’t see the Steelers completely shutting down the Cardinals as Arizona has put some big numbers up on some very good football teams during the playoffs. Warner was 21 of 28 for 279 yards and four touchdowns against a blitzing Eagles defense.

Defensively, Arizona has been better in the playoffs, but there still has to be some cause for concern because of the way the Eagles were able to get back into the NFC title game. The Cardinals will give up yards through the air. McNabb was 28 of 47 for 375 yards with three touchdowns against one interception. Arizona will likely invite Ben Roethlisberger to beat them in the Super Bowl as it isn’t about to let Willie Parker and the running game do it. If you think Arizona keeps this one within the number and has a chance to win, bet the Cardinals at +7 at BetUS and receive up to 145 percent in sign up bonuses.

Jimmy Boyd was 2-0 with his NFL sides in the Conference Championship round, which included his 5* NFL Playoffs Game of the Year winner on the Arizona Cardinals. Beat the Super Bowl lines on Sunday with the help of Jimmy Boyd’s Super Bowl picks to guarantee yourself a profitable day.

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Written by Jimmy Boyd on January 20, 2009 · Filed Under NFL Betting Articles, News & Previews

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