NFL Football: Arizona Cardinals VS Denver Broncos Prediction, Odds and Preview - 12/18/2022

 

Game Time: 4:00 PM ET,  Sunday, December 18th, 2022

Venue:  Empower Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado

Where to Watch: FOX

FanDuel:  Broncos -2.5, O/U 36.5

BetMGM:  Broncos -2.5, O/U 36.5

PointsBet:  Broncos -3, O/U 36

Cardinals: 4-9, 3rd place NFC West

Broncos: 3-10, 4th place AFC West

An inter-conference battle of bad vs worse.  The AFC’s Arizona Cardinals rapidly turned into a dumpster fire this season after big expectations were set with the signing of QB Kyler Murray to a HUGE contract extension…. The signing not only didn’t work… it led to drama before the season even started when it was revealed that Kyler had a “homework clause” in his contract.  The Cardinals owner wanted that news to get out… but didn’t realize it would make them look like petty chumps… so they quickly dropped it.  They should have kept it.  None of it matters anyway since Kyler lost plenty pof games and is now out with an injury that will keep him out the rest of the season and into the start of next season.  He will play lots of X-box now.  The Denver Broncos have a slightly warmer dumpster fire… during the offseason they traded for Super Bowl winner and legendary quarterback Russelll Wilson… giving up players AND many many draft picks…. And they signed Russell to multiple guaranteed years at $50 million a year.  It did not work.  The Seahawks got better, the Broncos got worse… and now all those draft picks FOR the SEAHAWKS will be good picks in early parts of every round they land in.  Plus Russell will be eating a sizable portion of the salary cap while looking completely lost and washed in a Broncos uniform.  Sad for both franchises… these dumpster fires are looking to burn for the next 3-4 years easily.  So why watch the game?… DON’T.  It will be a bad game with no upside for anyone.  Why bet on this game?... Easy Money.  That is the reason to bet on any game.  The great betting opportunity here is to figure out which team will win (ATS) and cash that winning ticket when we are done.

The Arizona Cardinals have a slightly below average offense that just got torn apart by losing their “kind of” star quarterback… and they have a very bad defense.  They are last in defending points scored.  They give up 26.8 points per game on average… that is the most in the NFL.  They are on a 3-game losing streak… and winners of only 4 in the first 13 games on the season.  If Kyler had gotten this injury earlier in this awful season… DE JJ Watt, S Budda Baker, and possibly WR DeAndre Hopkins would have been traded at the trade deadline in order to stack draft picks… but now they are stuck waiting for the offseason. They lost their last game to the New England Patriots 27-13.  QB Kyler Murray completed 1 of 1 passes for 9 yards before breaking his ankle and leaving the game… His replacement QB Colt McCoy is among the best backup quarterbacks in the NFL… but he is still a backup being poorly supported by a soft defense. Colt completed 27 of 40 passes for 246 yards 0 TDs and 1 INT. RB James Conner carried the ball 15 times for 85 yards and 1 TD.  WR DeAndre Hopkins lost a fumble on his way to 79 receiving yards on 7 catches.  The Cardinals basically got nothing done all day.

The Denver Broncos are a laughing stock… mostly because of the inflated expectations that came with a $50 million quarterback addition. They are on a 5-game losing streak.  A sad 5 games that went 2-3 ATS… and only won the last 2 ATS because the spread was growing week by week in response to their awfulness. Denver lost their last game to the Kansas City Chiefs 34-28.  It was actually a very good day for the Broncos offense who doubled their average scoring output (but still lost the game). Russell Wilson had a big day but was knocked out of the game with a concussion… It is unknown if he will play on Sunday against the Cardinals.  Russell completed 23 of 36 passes for 247 yards, 3 TDs, and 1 INT… This is why the Chiefs are not favored for the Super Bowl with any shark I know… The Chiefs have a very soft passing defense that gave Russell his best chance in a while.  Russell’s backup Brett Rypien completed 4 for 8 passes for 16 yards 1 TD and 1 INT.  Brett may be the starter for Denver on Sunday… good luck. WR Jerry Jeudy had a big day against the Chiefs with 73 receiving yards on 8 catches but a staggering 3 TDs. In total 9 different Broncos had receptions on the day… some of them dinks some of them dunks…  This is a bad offensive team.

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ARI: 4-9, 6-7 ATS, O/U 7-6, 3-2 in road games.

DEN: 3-10, 5-8 ATS, O/U 2-11, 2-4 in home games.

The Cardinals are 17th in scoring with 21.3 points per game, 20th in total yards with 333.8 per game, 18th in passing yards with 219.1 per game, and 17th in rushing yards with 114.8 per game.

The Broncos are 32nd in scoring with 14.9 points per game, 27th in total yards with 315.5 per game, 22nd in passing yards with 212.4 per game, and 25th in rushing yards with 103.2 per game.

The Cardinals defense is 21st in defending total yards with 354 allowed per game, 25th in defending passing yards with 243.8 per game allowed, 8th in defense of rushing yards with 110.2 allowed per game, and 32nd in defense of points with 26.8 allowed per game.

The Broncos defense is 7th in defending total yards with 314.3 per game allowed, 7th in defense of passing yards with 1296.6 allowed per game, 17th in defending rushing yards with 117.7 allowed per game, and 4th in defending scoring with 18.3 per game allowed. 

Our prediction for Sunday, December 18th is…. Cardinals 27 - Broncos 12

 

Bet on the Cardinals.  You get a few points to keep in your back pocket AND if it is a battle of backup QBs the Cardinals have the better backup… If Russ plays?... The result would be even worse for Denver.  Both teams right now, if given the chance, would cut their starting quarterbacks if they weren’t on the hook for the guaranteed dead money.  Think about that.  Then bet on the Cardinals.

 

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Denver is 3-0 ATS versus Arizona at Denver since 1992.

All 3 games at Denver have gone OVER since 1992.

Denver is 1-5 ATS as a home favorite the last 3 seasons.

Cardinals: QB Colt McCoy, RB James Conner, WR Marquise Brown, WR DeAndre Hopkins, WR AJ Green, TE Trey McBride, LT Josh Jones, LG Cody Ford, C Billy Price, RG Max Garcia, RT Kelvin Beachum

Broncos: QB Brett Rypien, RN Latavious Murray, WR Kendall Hinton, WR Jerry Juedy, TE Greg Dulcich, TE Eric Timlinson, LT Cameron Fleming, LG Luke Wattenberg, C Graham Glasgow, RG Quinn Meinherz, RT Calvin Anderson

Partly Cloudy, Wind 8 mph, Humidity 32%, 43*