Arizona Cardinals at Jacksonville Jaguars Odds
The defending NFC champion Arizona Cardinals weren’t able to take care of business in Week 1. Now they head out on the road to face the AFC South’s Jacksonville Jaguars at Municipal Stadium this Sunday. While the Jags also lost last week, they were the more impressive team, playing the Colts to a 14-12 game to earn an against the spread win. The high-powered offense we saw from Arizona in 2008 was nowhere to be seen in a 20-16 loss to the 49ers. These teams have only met twice with Jacksonville taking both games. They last faced off in 2005 with the Jags earning a 24-17 victory. NFL lines makers have the defending NFC champs falling to 0-2 this week, listing the Jacksonville Jaguars as 3-point favorites with the total set at 42.5.
The first thing we must consider here is how awful the Cardinals were in the eastern time zone in 2008. In fact, Arizona dropped all five of its regular season games in the eastern time zone. The Cards were able to beat the Panthers on the East Coast in last season’s playoffs, but their ability to win out east in question.
The Cardinals are an improved defensive team, but this team’s main objective is to outscore its opponent. Their high-powered offense is what made them so successful a season ago. There is a good chance we will see that offense again in Week 2 as Kurt Warner has absolutely torched the AFC in his career, throwing 56 touchdowns in 29 games with a 107.8 passer rating. But Warner may not be able to have his way with the Jaguar defense if Anquan Boldin’s health does not improve. Arizona’s Pro Bowl wideout played with a hamstring injury against the 49ers and was very ineffective with just two catches for 19 yards. This is significant because it allows teams to pay extra attention to Larry Fitzgerald on the other side when Boldin isn’t making them pay. It is worth noting that the Jaguars are 0-5 against the spread in their last five games as a home favorite.
Jacksonville gave the Colts all they wanted and more last week, but it is going to have to do more offensively if its hopes to rebound from a trying 2008 season. The key will be to get the ball in the hands of their best playmaker as often as possible. That would be running back Maurice Jones-Drew. He had 97 rushing yards and a touchdown to go along with 26 receiving yards against the Colts. The guy is an absolute scoring machine with 41 touchdowns in 48 career games. The other important thing the Jags must do is stretch the field. They did not look to do so nearly enough against Indy. Wide receiver Torry Holt has nine scores against the Cards in his career, the most he has against any team. Perhaps he can be a consistent deep threat for QB David Garrard. It is worth mentioning that the Cardinals Cardinals are 0-4 against the spread in their last four games as an underdog of 3.0 points or less.
