Monday Night Football will see the San Francisco 49ers travel south to take on the Arizona Cardinals in a West Coast contest. The game is scheduled for an 8:30 pm start time and it will be televised nationally on ESPN. Currently the odds for the game have 49ers favored by a touchdown.

San Francisco is one of the best teams in the NFL. The 49ers have a 5-2 record overall and have a 2-1 record when playing on the road so far. Arizona, on the other hand, sits in second place in the NFC West behind San Francisco. The Cardinals have a winning record at 4-3 but have gone 3-1 overall in home games.

We knew the 49ers had one of the better defenses in all of football, but how many people knew that Arizona was going to have a great defense as well? San Francisco allows 272 yards per game defensively, with teams averaging 4.8 yards per play against them. San Francisco ranks highly as well, allowing just 313 yards per game defensively. The 49ers are tops in the NFL in pass defense while the Cardinals ranks fourth in the league against the pass. However, the Cardinals have dropped three straight games overall, with one coming at home a few weeks back to Buffalo in overtime.

Arizona pretty much has no running game whatsoever, ranking 27th in the league at less than 90 yards per game. Also, the misconception is that the Cardinals whip it all over the field, but they also rank 27th in the league in passing at just 204 yards per game. A win today would be huge for either team, and especially the 49ers. San Fran could open up a big lead in the league with a win. They've won at Green Bay and at the New York Jets this season in road games.

Last season John Skelton came on in relief of Kevin Kolb and led the Cardinals to a 21-19 win. Skelton threw 3 TDs in that game. It looks as if Skelton is going to get a start in this one tonight as Kolb is one again listed as OUT on the injury report for the Cardinals. San Fran has had some time to recover from a very physical game against Seattle last Thursday. RB Frank Gore has a small injury late in that game, but is going to be good to go in tonight's contest.

We expect the 49ers and Gore to be able to run the football effectively. The Cards rank in the bottom 10 in the league against the run and Gore is looking to have a major game for San Francisco. QB Alex Smith has done a great job leading this team and a win tonight is going to be big for the 49ers. San Fran is a great road team and they're one of those clubs that always seems to play well no matter if they are on the road or at home.

Expect Cardinal WR Larry Fitzgerald to be targeted a lot in this game tonight against some physical corners of the 49ers. We think he's going to get his catches, but with Jim Harbaugh and his coaching staff, we believe that they will make someone other than Fitzgerald beat them tonight. We don't see that happening.

Free Pick: San Francisco 20, Arizona 10

NFL Free Picks: San Francisco at Arizona Betting

What pro football bettors need to know about San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals on Monday (10/29/12) - a free pick from Pregame.com's Marco D'Angelo, with Oddsmaker Tony Sinisi and host Scott Spreitzer.

-$25 of picks FREE! No Obligation - No Credit Card Required - Becoming a member is Fast and Free!

Free Plays from the Pregame Pros by clicking HERE.