NFL odds Week 6: How to bet Cardinals-Seahawks, pick
One of the NFL's most even rivalries resumes Sunday when the Arizona Cardinals play at the Seattle Seahawks in a battle of 2-3 NFC West Division teams on Sunday.
Seattle leads the all-time series 23-22-1, winning two of the past three contests.
Here's everything you need to know about the NFL odds for Sunday's matchup between the Cardinals and Seahawks — the point spread, moneyline, total Over/Under and expert pick (with all NFL odds via FOX Bet).
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Cardinals at Seahawks (4:05 p.m. ET Sunday, FOX)
Point spread: Cardinals -2.5 (Cardinals favored to win by more than 2.5 points, otherwise Seahawks cover)
Moneyline: Cardinals -149 favorites to win (bet $10 to win $17.71 total); Seahawks +115 underdogs to win (bet $10 to win $21.50 total)
Total scoring Over/Under: 51.5 points scored by both teams combined
Insights from FOX Sports Gambling Expert Warren Sharp:
We must continue to discuss the Cardinals' inability to start games quickly until they rectify it. They have been outscored 38-0 in the first quarter of games and are the only team not to score a single point in the first quarter this season.
This has forced Arizona to play from behind and put undue stress on this team to be perfect in the second half of games just to have a shot at winning.
In a small sample, a team could pull that off. The Cardinals obviously haven’t, given their 2-3 record.
But the tax and the toll it puts on your body to never play with a lead and to always try to be perfect late in order to perform extraordinary comebacks will eventually cause either Kyler Murray to get injured or will cause problems for this team down the stretch of the season.
But here and now, the question is, can they score earlier than usual and jump out to a lead?
Fortunately for the Cardinals, after playing the third-toughest schedule of defenses, including two top-15 defenses the last two weeks, they get to face the 31st-ranked defense of the Seattle Seahawks.
Seattle’s defense has earned this ranking despite playing the 15th toughest schedule of offenses.
The two toughest offenses the Seahawks defense has gone up against were Jared Goff’s Lions and Marcus Mariota’s Falcons.
The Cardinals should feel much more confident about performing in this spot offensively to avoid falling behind.
But they’ll still need their defense to step up, as Seattle has scored on 63% of their first-half possessions, best in the NFL.
And the problem for the defense is that it’s plain bad. And predictable.
The Cardinals blitz at a 40% rate, which is the third-highest in the NFL. And when they blitz, they play zone behind it at the sixth-highest rate in the NFL.
Unfortunately for Arizona, Geno Smith is tremendous vs. zone no-blitz, completing 20 of 23 passes while averaging +0.34 EPA/att (No. 5), 52% success and 9.0 YPA on the season.
Smith has been one of the best stories of the season, and now he gets to play at home (after two straight road games) against the fifth-worst pass defense in the NFL and the easiest pass defense he has faced this season.
On the season, Smith is putting up these incredible numbers despite playing the fourth-toughest schedule of pass defenses.
He has played just one pass defense which ranks worse than average, and that was the Lions.
Geno recorded a season-high +0.61 EPA/att, 68% success, 10.7 YPA while completing 77% of his passes.
That’s a wild game. It was the third-highest EPA/att for any QB on the season.
It’s hard to envision the Cardinals defense stepping up enough to put the clamps on the Seahawks. Still, I could envision the Cardinals jumping out earlier than usual against this bad Seahawks defense.
But given that I haven’t seen them do it once this year, I’m not willing to back that speculation with money, and I’d grab Seattle +3 on the cheap buy.
PICK: Seahawks (+3) to lose by fewer than 3 points (or win outright)
Pick via FOX Sports NFL Betting Analyst Geoff Schwartz:
The wrong team is the favorite in this matchup of bird mascots. Seattle is the better team right now, and it’s not close. Seattle is 10th in overall DVOA and have the top-ranked offense, averaging 6.6 yards per play. I did not predict Geno Smith leading the most efficient offense in the NFL!
The Cardinals defense is 26th and does nothing well. They are ranked 32nd by Pro Football Focus in coverage, which is not ideal against this potent Seattle passing attack.
The Seahawks can be had on defense, where they are not good. However, can the Cardinals offense take advantage? I don’t see any evidence of that. Arizona is 27th in yards per play. They are 21st in run blocking and 14th in pass protection. Their offense always looks disjointed and playing in Seattle won’t help their cause.
Also, It's worth noting that Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury is awful against the spread as a favorite, only covering eight of 22 games. Meanwhile, Pete Carroll is over 60% as an underdog coming off a loss. I’ll take the Seahawks here.
PICK: Seahawks (+2.5 at FOX Bet) to lose by fewer than 2.5 points (or win outright)
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