The NFL Wild Card Playoff weekend begins this afternoon when the Arizona Cardinals travel to take on the Carolina Panthers. The game is scheduled for a 4:20 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on ESPN. Currently the Betting Odds for the game have the Panthers favored by about a touchdown to advance to the next round.
The Panthers found a way to get into the playoffs despite being pretty bad during the regular season. Both Atlanta and New Orleans weren't able to play any better, though, as the NFC South proved to be the worst division in football. And although the Panthers finished below .500 with a 7-8-1 record on the season, they're hosting a playoff game against an Arizona club that comes in with an 11-5 record and the fifth seed overall.
Arizona and Detroit both finished with 11-5 records on the year while Seattle, Green Bay and Dallas were 12-4 in the NFC. This is going to be a very competitive NFC playoff heading to the Super Bowl, but all those roads lead through Seattle, which makes the road even tougher.
Carolina hasn't had the best defense like in year's past, but it's been serviceable enough to get the job done. The Panthers leader, Luke Kuechly, led the league in tackles with 153 as the Panthers finished 10th in total defense for the year. Opponents scored 23.4 points per game agains them, which was 21st in the league, but Arizona might have a hard time getting to that number today.
The Cardinals have battled injuries at the quarterback position all year and now have to give the ball to Ryan Lindley, who gets the start because of the injuries to Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton. Lindley, the third-stringer, is going to have a smaller playbook in order to give the Cardinals a chance to succeed today. Maybe the biggest problem for Lindley and the Cardinals, though, is their inability to run the football consistently this season. Arizona ranked 31st in the league on the ground at just 81.8 yards per game, with only Oakland having worse numbers for the year. The ground game should be imperative for Arizona today and although Kerwynn Williams isn't the best back, the Cardinals are dealing with injuries there as well.
Bruce Arians has to be commended for another great coaching job, getting this team to the playoffs.
Cam Newton, though, is going to have a big day. The Panthers were given another chance and took advantage of that, winning their last four games overall to head into the playoffs red hot. Newton has been banged up all year as well and Carolina was just 4-4 in home games this season, but a win here would give them another week and send them to Seattle next weekend for the divisional round. Carolina will run the football with Johnathan Stewart getting the bulk of the carries.
There might not be a team hotter than Carolina right now heading into the post season. The Panthers put 34 on Atlanta last week in the winner-takes-all contest for the NFC South and really looked good on both sides of the football. The number is a bit inflated, though, as Carolina posted two defensive scores.
This might not be the best offensive game of the weekend, but expect it to be a solid contest. Give the nod to Carolina, at home, with Arizona struggling to keep healthy in key positions.
Free Pick: Carolina 20, Arizona 17
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