Proceed with caution: Arizona Cardinals favored

The Arizona Cardinals are favored to beat the Washington Football Team on Sunday at State Farm Stadium

It always makes me cringe a bit whenever the Arizona Cardinals are favored by more than a point or two.  This week Las Vegas lines have them favored as 6.5 or 7-point favorites.

Yes, it’s Washington.  Yes the Cardinals are up and coming.  Both teams had nice come from behind wins last Sunday in week one.

The Cardinals did on the road against a tough San Francisco 49ers team.  Washington did it at home against a tough Philadelphia team.  In the year of COVID and few to zero fans in the stands, home field doesn’t, or at least shouldn’t, mean much.

That certainly doesn’t seem to be the case here.  After falling down 17-0 to the Eagles last Sunday, Washington scored 27 unanswered points to win in Ron Rivera‘s debut as the franchise’s new head coach.

The Cardinals came back from down 10-0 to win 24-20.  We really shouldn’t compare the two because of situations but when it comes down to it, what makes the oddsmakers believe the Cardinals can win by that much?

Can it happen?  Of course it can.  The Cardinals have lost the last two meetings to Washington, including the last one in 2018 at State Farm in the home opener 24-6.

Washington has a second year quarterback in Dwayne Haskins just as the Cardinals do in Kyler Murray.  Certainly Murray has been more high profile.  Haskins actually had a slightly high QB rating this past Sunday (82 vs 78).

It’s not often the Cardinals are favored by that much against any team much less Washington.  On paper, the Cardinals should beat Washington by more than a touchdown but you should never count on it.

It’s just something to pay attention to but buyer beware if you take the Cardinals.  We still have a lot of improvement to see from this team before they can consistently be viewed as favorites.