Saturday night preseason football and we will see the Arizona Cardinals travel to TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota to take on the Minnesota Vikings. The game has a start time of 8:30 pm (Eastern) and will be televised locally. Current Vegas odds have the Vikings listed as 3.5 point favorites, while the total is set at 39.5.
Analysis: The Arizona Cardinals had an impressive 32-0 week 1 preseason win over the Houston Texans, which may be a prelude of things to come this year as they are picked by many as a sleeper team. Bruce Arians is doing a great job in Arizona, showing that he is one of the better coaches in the league right now. On offense the Cardinals put up 407 yards overall and 326 yards through the air. Both numbers are tops in the league so far. Carson Palmer was in for 1 series and hit all 5 passes for 84 yards and a TD. Drew Stanton had a nice showing, hitting 11 of 17 passes for 152 yards and a TD, while Logan Thomas went 11 of 12 for 113 yards and a TD. John Brown led the team in receiving yards (87), while Walter Powell was 2nd with 74 yards. The defense for the cards allowed Houston just 172 totals yards, including just 82 through the air. Both are tops in the league so far.
The Minnesota Vikings come in off a very boring 10-6 win over the Oakland Raiders. The Viking defense looked good in the game, but their offense was putrid, which is probably what we can expect from them this year. The Vikings put up just 236 yards in the game, including just 109 yards through the Air. Teddy Bridgewater really struggled in the game, hitting 6 of 13 passes for just 49 yards, while Christian Ponder went just 3 of 7 for 39 yards. Matt Cassel should be the starter at the beginning of the year and hit 5 of 6 for 62 yards vs the Raiders. No Adrian Petersen in that game or probably not this game either, so Jerick McKinnon should get more reps, after leading the team in rushing last week with 45 yards on 12 carries. The defense was solid vs the Raiders, allowing them just 268 yards overall and just 182 through the air.
Pick: I will look at the Under in this one. The Vikings are favored by 3.5 on the game and to me that really suggest a slow scoring game as this team will not score many points this year. Matt Cassel will be their starting QB this yera and in this game, but when he is out the Viking have no offense at all as Bridgewater is not ready for the NFL, while Christian Ponder is well... Christian Ponder. Even worse for this Vikings offense is the fact that they will be taking on an Arizona defense that really looked good last week vs Houston. I know it was vs a weak Texans offense, but the Viking offense is no better. The Vikings played a very good game on defense last week and I can't see the cardinals throwing for 326 yards in this one. The Cards should be very happy with their passing game and that could mean they work a bit more on their running game which they seem to struggle at every year. This has the feel of a 14-10 type game.
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