NFL Betting - 49ers vs Arizona Cardinals Preview

NFL - 49ers v Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals look to clinch their second straight NFC West title Monday night when they visit San Francisco to face a 49ers side who seem to have forgone their ground game for a passing attack.

The 49ers' offense has changed of late and now they seem to like the Air attack, 49ers QB Smith completed 27 of 45 throws for a career-best 310 yards with two touchdowns in last Sunday's 20-17 loss to Seattle., However it wasn’t enough as the 49ers suffered their sixth loss in eight game’s. Smith has thrown for 769 yards with seven touchdowns and one interception in his last three games. The 49ers,who opened with Hill as the starter, averaged 175.6 passing yards in their first nine games. But with this new approach the 49ers have abandoned their running game. Last weekend the 49ers threw the ball in 21 of its first 24 plays against the Seahawks, and Frank Gore rushed nine times for 25 yards. Gore has run for 117 yards with no touchdowns in his last three games after rushing for 278 and three TDs in his previous three. The 49ers might have to think outside the box here in this match as the cardinals last weekend sacked Brett Favre three times, increasing their total to 35 - tied for third in the league, The Cardinals also picked Farve twice, as well as holding RB Peterson to a season-low 19 yards on 13 carries. But in the 49ers favour is that they are at home and they have performed well there in their last 2 matches.

Arizona sit at 8-4 and looked great last week against the Vikings but earlier this season they faced the 49ers and lost 20-16 in Week 1. Kurt Warner completed 26 of 44 passes for 288 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in the Cardinals' second-lowest scoring game of the season. However The Cardinals in winning four of their last five seem to of gotten over those problems rather easily, Warner, Fitzgerald and Boldin were all great in their 30-17 win over Minnesota. Warner threw for 285 yards and three touchdowns, Fitzgerald caught eight passes for 143 yards and a score, and Boldin had seven receptions for 98 yards and two TDs. Warner was absent in the Cardinals 20-17 loss against the Titans their only loss in their last 5 matches, But he is again looking fantastic when he takes the Field, Warner has passed for 1,089 yards with 12 touchdowns and no interceptions for a 133.2 rating in winning his last four starts. He has 19 TD passes and two picks in the eight wins. The Cardinals need one more victory to clinch the West. The franchise hasn't won back-to-back division titles since taking the NFC East in 1974 and '75.

The Cardinals are 6-4 in their last 10 against the 49ers and are 4-5-1 ATS in those matches, The Cardinals have won 3 of their last 4 games against the 49ers when playing in San Fran and they are 3-0-1 ATS I those meetings…Total wise and 6 of the last 10 have resulted In over the set total, Of the 4 matches played in San Fran the Set Total has been passed in only 1 of those 3 matches.

The Cardinals have scored 20 or more points in 4 of their last 5 matches while allowing 20 or more points in 3 of their last 4 games, The 49ers have scored 20 or more in 3 of their last 4 matches while allowing 20 or more in 3 of their last 4, It should be noted though that at home in their last 2 games against the Jags and Bears that the 49ers did not allow more than 6 points in either match.

The 49ers are 7-2 in their last 9 matches at home and are 4-2 ATS in their last 5 at home, The Total has also fallen under in 4 of their last 6 home matches, meanwhile the Cardinals are 4-1 in their last 5 matches and are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games.

Averages say that the 49ers are actually the better side in defence allowing on average just less than the Cardinals defence is but the Cardinals throw for more yardage than the 49ers, rush marginally better and on season averages score 4 more points than the 49ers do while allowing a half point more than the 49ers.

This game could get interesting as of late the 49ers have forgone their rush attack and seem far more likely to throw the ball long, the 49ers have actually been going well on the pass and seem to like that now, however their rush attack has really taken a blow because of it and has not rushed for more than 89 yards in their last 3 games against the Seahawks (53), Jags (52) and Packers (69), they may like their passing game now but they should send Gore into this Cardinals Rush defence that is allowing over 120 yards on the ground in their last 2 road games against the Titans (163) and Rams (123) take that with the Cardinals last 3 road games passing defence and the 49ers if they are accurate could have a very good night tonight, another interesting thing about the 49ers is that they are far better at home than away in every aspect of their games, Their last 2 games against the Jags and Bears they allowed little both on the rush and pass while they also have a positive turn over ratio at home compared to a negative one when not playing there.

On the other side the Cardinals although winning away from home this season are really giving up allot and that worries me about this game, on the road in their last 3 games against the Titans , Rams and Bears they have allowed a lot, their pass defence has allowed over 350 passing yards in 2 of those games and have allowed over 120 yards on the rush in 2 of those 3 matches, however they are winning and that will always be a positive for them.

The Cardinals played well last weekend against the Vikings, in fact they were near on perfect, I took them to beat the Vikings last Monday but even I didn’t think it would be as comprehensive as it turned out to be, with the Cardinals looking great on all sides of the ball , however this week I think they could get caught out and this match will really depend on which side can take the chances that are given to them and make it count come games end, The 49ers really are a different side win at home and although the Cards are the favs here and I rate them, In fact I rate them to go all the way and maybe win it come SuperBowl time I still have doubts about them in this game regardless of how they looked last Monday Night, I’m going to take a few bets on this game and they are for thr Total to fall under, the 49ers to win ATS but I am going to trust in Warner and say that he will drive the Cardinals to a game winning chance and they’ll take it, Just….I’m going for the Cardinals to win in a tight thrilling game by 12 or less….Good Luck.



Pick : Cardinals by 12 or less
Odds : 2.45
Stake : 8 / 10
Bookmaker : Tabsportsbet NZ
Match Result : 24-9
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