They don't get much attention but the Arizona Cardinals have played themselves into the NFC playoff picture with four straight wins, including a rout of Indianapolis Sunday.
Arizona now heads cross-country for a visit with the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday afternoon (1 pm ET, Fox). Nick Foles has been officially handed the starting duties, so it's now his job to lose.
The Cardinals just destroyed the AFC South-leading Colts, out-gaining them by 170 yards and easily covering the spread at -3.5 points. At 7-4 Arizona is tied with San Francisco for the second NFC wild-card spot, although the Niners hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Philly meanwhile needs to win to keep pace with Dallas in the NFC East. The Cowboys won Thursday.
The Cardinals are also 7-4 ATS on the season. On the other side of this avian match-up Philly has won and covered its last three games, and at 6-5 is tied for first place in the NFC East, although Dallas owns the tie-breaker in that situation.
In the early betting the Eagles were favored by 3.5 points over Arizona at Sportsbook. Some trends of note in this battle of former divisional rivals include the Eagles have played UNDER (10-3 past 13 seasons) after a bye week; the Eagles are 9-3 ATS past 12 seasons following bye week; the Cardinals are 3-0 SU and ATS past three vs Philly; the Eagles snapped a 10-game home ATS losing skid in last game and the Cardinals are 7-1 ATS past eight vs NFC East teams.
Supporters of the Cardinals have seen them go 7-4 and 7-4 ATS so far this season, while the Eagles are at 6-5 and 6-5 ATS. In totals betting, the Eagles are 6-5, while the Cardinals are 6-5.
View Arizona Cardinals vs Philadelphia Eagles Odds and Stats.
The Eagles were listed as 4-point favorites at Sportsbook and other online sportsbooks but bet down to 3 points late in the week, with the total listed at one point at 48.5 over at Sportsbook.
This game matches up the No. 16 (Eagles) and the No. 11 (Cardinals) teams in the league, according to our current NFL Power Rankings at OddsShark. A 24-23 result in favor of the Cardinals is predicted by handicapping models.
The Cardinals were a 40-11 Sportsbook in their most recent outing at home against the Colts. They covered the 3-point spread as favorites, while the total score (51) made Sportsbooks of OVER bettors. Washington couldn't keep LeSean McCoy out of the end zone in their last game and it cost them a 24-16 loss against the Eagles.
How They Match Up:
Offensively, the game matches up Philadelphia's No. 9-ranked offense (25.09 PPG) against a Cardinals defense that ranks No. 8 at 20.27 PPG. The Eagles passing attack has averaged 261.73 yards per game, more than the Cardinals give up through the air (235.82 YPG on average).
Defensively, the Cardinals feature the league's No. 3-rated road run defense, allowing 86.4 yards per game. Philadelphia, meanwhile, ranks No. 12 in rushing offense at home.
A few Cardinals at Eagles trends to consider:
Arizona is 8-4 ATS in its last 12 games
Arizona is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
Arizona is 8-15 SU in its last 23 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Arizona's last 6 games
Philadelphia is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games
Philadelphia is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games
Philadelphia is 7-16 SU in its last 23 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Philadelphia's last 5 games
Next up:
Arizona home to St. Louis, Sunday, December 8th
Philadelphia home to Detroit, Sunday, December 8th
