Arizona is giving points? Someone pinch me!
The Cardinals have lost six straight, including a 0-49 drubbing last week by the Chiefs. It was Arizona’s worst loss ever. How can you score 0 points against a team that is giving up 28 points per game? I believe the Cardinals players have thrown in the towel for the season. If that weren’t enough, they are without their top two receivers (David Boston and Frank Sanders) this game.
The Lions on the other hand are still fighting. They are happy to be at five wins with a rookie quarterback and see this as a very winnable sixth game. If Harrington didn’t throw three crucial picks last week, the Lions could have easily beaten the defending Super Bowl champs. Clearly the Lions asked too much of a rookie QB and need to run the ball more, as James Stewart has been very effective (4.7 yards per rush). I am going to assume that Detroit coach Mornhinweg has figured this out. Besides, Harrington will finally be facing a bad pass defense, after going up against 11 good or excellent ones over the past 12 games.
The Lions have also had a few extra days of rest and preparation and getting out of Dodge (or Detroit in this case) will be good for them.
Finally, Detroit qualifies for a very successful situation (28-10 ATS including 5-1 the last two years) featuring dogs against opponents off a bunch of straight-up losses.