Chargers Overwhelming Favorites Against The Spread vs. Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals may be the home team on Sunday, but there's no mistaking who the real favorites are before the matchup takes place.
The Los Angeles Chargers enter Week 12 as 1.5 point favorites against the Cardinals in what is essentially a must-win game for both sides.
Although the spread may be close, there's no mistaking who analysts and betting experts across the web believe in:
Chargers Overwhelming Favorites Against The Spread vs. Cardinals
ESPN Staff
"The Cardinals are in a state of utter disarray at the moment. Facing another good quarterback in Justin Herbert won't help settle the situation. The Cardinals can't get their offense moving, and their defense hasn't forced a quarterback to have a completion percentage under 61.1%. With all the issues Arizona is facing already, having to play a playoff contender on a short week isn't an ideal situation."- Josh Weinfuss
Eric Moody's pick: Chargers 30, Cardinals 20
Seth Walder's pick: Chargers 34, Cardinals 24
FPI prediction: ARI, 62.6% (by an average of 3.7 points)
Gregg Rosenthal, NFL.com
Chargers 27, Cardinals 17
"The Chargers have played better the last two weeks despite losing close games to the 49ers and Chiefs. Justin Herbert looks like his old self, and Brandon Staley has come up with some answers for his banged-up defense. The Cardinals, meanwhile, are a mess.
"Arizona opened November with three straight games against NFC West rivals. Heading into this stretch, on Hard Knocks, Kliff Kingsbury promoted the opportunity to get to first place and save the season. The Cards weren't competitive in two of those games -- embarrassing themselves on and off the field in Mexico -- and now their season is all but over."
Sheil Kapadia, The Ringer
"The Chargers were competitive but couldn’t finish the job Sunday night in a loss to the Chiefs. The good news is they got Keenan Allen back. The bad news is Mike Williams aggravated his ankle injury and left the game. It’s hard to know what to make of this team. They still have Justin Herbert and can compete with anyone on any given week. But the defense has been underwhelming, and Brandon Staley has morphed into one of the NFL’s most conservative coaches with his in-game decision-making this year.
"The Cardinals got blown out on Monday night, and it’s hard to see a scenario where they run it back with GM Steve Keim, coach Kliff Kingsbury, and quarterback Kyler Murray next year. I never feel comfortable taking the Chargers, but they need this game, and the Cardinals look like a team that might crater down the stretch.
"The pick: Chargers (-4)"
Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News
The Chargers have too much diversity in their passing attack for the Cardinals' defense to handle, especially with the pass protection rebounding to better support a revving-up Justin Herbert. The Cardinals' questionable QB situation doesn't help them with Kyler Murray likely to miss one more game. Colt McCoy can try to keep them in the game vs. the Bolts, but there's not enough lightning around him and they need more than running James Conner.
Pick: Chargers win 30-20 and cover the spread.
Bleacher Report Staff
"In their previous outing, the Arizona Cardinals couldn't hang with the San Francisco 49ers in Mexico City, going down 38-10 with Colt McCoy as the starter for Kyler Murray (hamstring).
"Per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, the Cardinals may hold Murray out until after their Week 13 bye, which would allow McCoy to log a third consecutive start. If that's the case, the Los Angeles Chargers should be able to cover a 4.5-point spread.
"Our entire panel picked the Chargers without hesitation."
Consensus: Chargers -4.5
Score Prediction: Chargers 28, Cardinals 20
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