NFC West rivals will enter their Sunday Night Football showdown refreshed following byes last week, giving players and coaches time to prepare. Seattle didn’t have to face Carson Palmer last year, but their focus should be on Arizona’s quarterback, who leads the conference in passer rating and touchdowns. The Cardinals have a two-game lead in the division and if they want to be considered Super Bowl contenders, now’s the time to convince the league they’re ready.
NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
Seattle Seahawks -3.5
Arizona Cardinals +3.5
Over/Under 45
ODDS ANALYSIS
The betting public has lost some confidence in the Seahawks with the line wagered down a half point to Seattle -3. The Seahawks are 2-1 SU and 1-2 ATS in three home games, and just 2-6 ATS in their last eight as chalk.
KEY INJURIES
Lyle Sendlein – Practiced in a limited capacity this week, leading to the possibility that the Cardinals’ starting center won’t play on Sunday. Sendlein suffered a shoulder injury against Cleveland in Week 8 but hasn’t been ruled out. A.Q. Shipley was taking snaps with the starters during practice this week.
Ricardo Lockette – Suffered a neck injury against Dallas that required surgery. He was placed on injured reserve. Seattle’s backup receiver will be missed on special teams, where he was a gunner on the punt coverage team.
KEY MISMATCH
Seattle’s passing game has produced disastrous results when opposing defenses have sent pressure this season. Quarterback Russell Wilson faces an Arizona team that has blitzed on 44 percent of pass plays, the second-most in the NFL. Wilson is quick to point out that blitzing leaves a lot of space on the back end. But the Seahawks aren’t capitalizing on those opportunities. Opponents have produced sacks 17.8 percent of the time when blitzing, the highest rate in the NFL. The Cardinals blitzing hasn’t always led to sacks, but they’ve produced 17 takeaways. Overall, the blitz has been Wilson’s kryptonite. He’s 21st in completion percentage, 16th in yards per attempt and 27th in passer rating when defenses send pressure. And the Cardinals will likely have linebacker and pass rush specialist Alex Okafor back in the lineup. He missed the past three games with a calf injury and is ready to rejoin a group in need of getting more pressure. The Cards have only 13 sacks, but face a team that has allowed a league-high 31.
KEY STAT
29.41 – Seattle’s touchdown percentage in the red zone. The Seahawks have just 17 red zone possessions and their five touchdowns are the fewest by a wide margin. Arizona is 20th giving up a touchdown 60.87 percent of the time inside the 20.
BETTING ANGLE
If the National Weather Service is right, it’ll be a wet, cold night in Seattle. The forecast calls for a 70 percent chance of rain during the day with a high of 46 degrees, with temperatures dropping to 41 at night, with a chance of rain. Clearly an advantage to the home team that plays and practices in those conditions, right? Not so fast, Palmer says he doesn’t mind. Palmer spent the past two weeks working with wet footballs in an attempt to replicate potential conditions at CenturyLink Field. When Palmer threw wet footballs, coach Bruce Arians said he made them look dry. While the moisture may not bother Palmer, the temperature might. Palmer is 12-16 in games played in temperatures of 46 degrees or cooler. The last time Palmer played in Seattle, the temperature was 48 degrees, but Palmer was able to hit Michael Floyd for a 31-yard touchdown pass in a 17-10 victory.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
This isn’t the same Seahawks team that advanced to the past two Super Bowls and they are vulnerable. Their four wins have come against teams with a combined 9-24 record and two of those were nail-biters. The defense shut down offensively-challenged San Francisco and Dallas in two wins before the bye, so it’s hard to say if the Legion of Boom is back. Offensively, the Seahawks need more from the passing game if they are to compete with the better teams. They’ve beat up on inferior clubs and have yet to defeat a team with a winning record. The Cards come in geeked up about a chance to increase their division lead. Playing without Palmer last season, they managed three field goals in two games with Seattle. Chris Johnson has stabilized the run game, Palmer has several options to throw to, and Arizona has weapons much like Carolina, Cincinnati and Green Bay, who all beat Seattle earlier.
Arizona 23, Seattle 18
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