Are the Cards overcoming their home weakness?
Monday night is the night of last chances and the conclusion of NFL Game Day 14, as the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots face off against two teams that would not currently be in the postseason.
While the Pats are still within touching distance of the coveted spots with 6-6 wins, the train has already left the station for the Cards 99% of the time. It would take a very long and surprising winning streak for Phoenix to make playoffs this season.
The first of several last chances they now have against a Patriots team that has also not been particularly convincing lately. So both teams come into this Monday Night Game with two losses under their belts.
For Cardinals vs. Patriots, our prediction is for a ragged game between two unsettled teams in which the Cards’ better offense could still prevail in the end. With Connor and Hopkins, they have playmakers there who will provide a touchdown or two.
Kickoff of the Monday Night Game is Tuesday night at 02:15 in Arizona. The game can be watched live on DAZN.
Arizona Cardinals – Statistics & current form
1-6 at home. This disastrous record already shows how the Cards’ season is going so far. So it is not particularly pleasant for Arizona Cardinals fans to go to the stadium for home games. They could only rarely celebrate.
Still, they have been close to big wins at home more often than not. 17:20 against the Eagles, 24:25 the week before against the Chargers. It took a successful 2-point conversion by LA to beat the Cards with 15 seconds left. It doesn’t get much closer than that.
With a running game to success
Although their absolute top star DeAndre Hopkins plays wide receiver, the Cards offense works best when their running game is successful. Averaging 114.9 yards, that’s not always the case. Whenever it works, they definitely have a chance to win.
Like the previous week against the Chargers, where they had a whopping 181 rushing yards, which then led to a near victory. Should they even come close to that number against New England, then the chances of a win are very high.
More must come from Anderson and Green
DeAndre Hopkins also delivers consistently after his suspension, but gets far too little support from his fellow receivers. Neither oldie A.J. Green nor new signing Robby Anderson are much help at the moment. In the previous week, they caught just two balls together.
To sum up: The Cards have a few weapons in their arsenal, but are still using them all too rarely. If they succeed on Monday, they should also put up some touchdowns and win the game. So for Cards vs Pats, a bet on Over 2 touchdowns by Arizona is a bet we can consider.
Key Players:
QB: Kyler Murray
RB: James Connor
WR: DeAndre Hopkins
TE: Zach Ertz
K: Matt Prater
New England Patriots – stats & current form
When we talk about the Patriots, we are of course talking about Mac Jones and about their defense. Those two factors often determine their success. With only 18.8 points allowed per game, they are once again a top 7 defense this season.
In the last two games, however, they allowed an average of 28.5 points, which of course robs them of any chance of winning. Offensively, they have a lot more problems. The 20.8 points scored offensively mean they only rank in the bottom third of the league.
How good is Mac Jones really?
This offensive struggle, of course, also bears the name Mac Jones. When we look at his numbers, they are very ambivalent. With 68.1% completed passes, he is in the top 3 of all starting quarterbacks.
However, he already threw seven interceptions with only seven touchdowns. So a winning streak is hard to come by. In our eyes, he also loses the duel against his counterpart Murray. Murray has 14 TDs with seven interceptions and considerably more rushing yards.
Do the Pats keep the score down?
The Patriots always have a good chance to win when few total points are scored. 17-14 against the Steelers, 26-3 against the Colts or 10-3 against the Jets. However, all of those wins came against teams that came into the contest with weak offenses.
We rate the Cards better here, which makes an absolute low scoring game unlikely. That, in turn, significantly lessens the Pats chances, making the odds on the Cards more playable for Arizona vs. Los Angeles. Since they are considered slight underdogs, we don’t even need a handicap for great value.
Key Players:
QB: Mac Jones
RB: Damien Harris
WR: DeVante Parker
TE: Hunter Henry
K: Nick Folk
Arizona Cardinals – New England Patriots Head-to-head comparison / H2H record
The two teams last met in 2020 – with the better end for the Patriots. Before that, the teams only ever played each other once every four years, which makes an assessment of the direct comparisons of little significance.
The current form of both teams also balances out, as both go into Monday with two losses in the bag. Still, we liked the Cards a little better even in their defeats, so we wouldn’t quite subscribe to their underdog status.
That makes the odds on Arizona a first option in Cardinals vs Patriots, followed by Cards’ Over 2 touchdowns. Since they’re considered underdogs, the oddsmakers don’t trust them to score those either, which makes the odds jump up.
Arizona Cardinals – New England Patriots Tip
It’s certainly not an easy matchup to pick that we’re facing on Monday. The Pats are playing the slightly better season and are often more stable on defence. However, the Cardinals clearly have the greater offensive potential.
With little left to lose, they could also take some chances on fourth down attempts, which should lead to more touchdowns. Therefore, for Cardinals vs Patriots, a bet on Over 2 Cards touchdowns is our bet of choice.
For betting alternatives, DeAndre Hopkins is a good bet. He scored three touchdowns in the last five games and was also successful in the previous week. So we see him as the most likely TD scorer in this game.
