Arizona Cardinals (5-8-1 SU, 4-10 ATS) at Seattle Seahawks (9-4-1 SU, 8-6 ATS)
NFL Week 16
Date/Time: Saturday, December 24, 2016 4:25PM EST
Where: CenturyLink Field, Seattle, WA.
TV: FOX
by WILSON, NFL Handicapper, Predictem.com
Point Spread: ARZ +8/SEA -8
Over/Under Total: 43
The Seahawks host the Cardinals this Saturday on Christmas Eve in Seattle. This will be the second meeting between these teams this season and who can forget the first time they played in Octoberwhere the game ended in an overtime tie 6-6. I watched that game at the Westgate Super Book in Las Vegas, and sports bettors were going crazy trying to hedge bets to cover. Since then both teams have gone in different directions. The Cards have struggled to just 5 wins while the Seahawks (although not their best offensive season) have put up 9 wins and are in great shape heading into the playoffs. To make the situation even more challenging for the Cards is the fact that Seattle is a perfect 7-0 at home this season, and you can bet their odds of going 8-0 especially in front of a Christmas Eve crowd of faithful 12s will be a tall order to overcome for Arizona. Will Santa Claus bring any gifts for these teams? If Santa does indeed bring a bag full of offensive and defensive presents they need to be all for the Cardinals! The Seahawks should be able to get by with stocking stuffers only in this game!
The Seahawks are 5-2 ATS at home this season and 6-3 in their last 9 games. The Cardinals are 1-5 ATS on the road and 4-5 in their last 9 games. Arizona gave up 48 points to New Orleans but they scored 41 which is a better sign going into Seattle as they only scored 6 points in the first matchup with the Hawks. In fact, Seattle has been better as well (remember they only scored 6 in that tie) but their offense is still hot and cold. Seattle held the Rams to 3 points last week and their defense needed a strong effort to ready themselves for the playoff run. Granted the Rams are down but you still have to execute and the Hawks executed well.
For all those looking for action on this game it will be closer than most expect. The line is currently hovering around Seattle -8 and some offshore books have the line at -9, however, this is a rivalry game and both these teams get after it every time they meet. Nobody wants to lose on Christmas Eve! I see these teams fighting every single down and putting on a show for the fans. The October meeting between these teams was definitely exciting albeit a field goal battlethis time around should be more of a playoff feel coupled with the holiday factora football bonus! Seattles QB, Russell Wilson, lives for these types of games, and Wilson will be dynamic in this arenathats what superstars do. Seattles defense is clicking (as long as Richard Sherman can keep his mouth shut for just a few hours and play the game, not critique his coach or try to make sure the world knows hes a smart Stanford grad) and they should hold off a rivalry fueled Cardinals attack. That being written, the Cards have absolutely nothing to lose which can be very dangerous for the Hawks. When teams know they can start booking tee times soon then they can feel comfortable taking risks on both sides of the ball. Seattle should see a lot of different defensive packages including blitzes and a variety of man and zone coverages. Arizona will do whatever they can to steal a game on the road on Christmas Eve!
Arizona is dealing with some injuries with E. Stinson (DT), M. Cooper (CB), and D. Humphries (T) as all are undetermined if they will play on Saturday. Seattles injury report lists M. Bennet (DE), B. Coyle (LB), and J. Ryan (P) who are also undetermined to play although Bennet is most likely to take the field.
This should be another good NFC West matchup. I do not believe Seattle will cover the current spread. I am taking the Arizona Cardinals plus the points.
Im taking Arizona plus the points. Luck to ya.
WILSONs Pick to Cover the Point Spread: Cardinals cover the spread.
–> MyBookie!
