The Rams host the undefeated Cardinals in NFL Thursday Night Football. Sportsbooks have the two teams evenly matched with the opening odds of St. Louis +102 ($2.02) Arizona -113 ($1.88) showing only a slight favortism toward the visitors. The current NFL Odds see St. Louis trading between -105 ($1.95) up to +106 ($2.06) while Arizona’s odds are between -117 ($1.85) up to -113 ($1.87) Looking at the NFL lines the point spread is Rams +1 Cardinals -1 while in the over under total market the average line is O/U 39.5 after opening the week at O/U 38.5.
At this stage roughly 55% of wagers place in the point spread market are on the Arizona Cardinal -1 while around 60% of totals wagers are on the game staying under.
St Louis are 2-2 for the season having defeated Seattle last week (19-13) and Washington in week 2 (31-28), with their two losses coming against Detroit (23-27) and Chicago (6-23). The Rams have averaged 19.75 points per game on offense and allowed an average of 22.75 for a negative point’s differential of -3. In NFL wagering results St. Louis are 3-1 (+$185) against the closing spread, +$89 against the closing moneyline odds and in over under betting they are 2-2 having gone O,O,U,U.
While the Cardinals are one of only three teams yet too taste defeat this season, the wins have not come easy. They came from behind to beat the Seahawks (20-16), defeated the Patriots (20-18) after NE missed a game winning field goal with seconds on the clock and they were able to snatch victory from the hands of defeat last week against the Dolphins (24-21). Arizona has a handy +7.50 points differential having averaged 22.75 points on offense while conceding 15.25 on defense. In wagering results the Cardinals are the most profitable team against the closing moneyline odds showing a profit of +$873 (for $100 bets each week). They have a 3-1 +$185 record against the point spread and they are 1-3 in over under results.
Recent history between St. Louis v Arizona has seen the Cardinals getting the better of it, with 9 wins from their last 10 encounters. The home v away record is 4-6 and the starting favorite v underdog record is 9-1. The team who has won outright has also managed to cover the NFL point spread bet 8-2 and the over under results are 3-7. The average game total over the last 10 regular season games is 44.25.
The Pick - Our handicapping numbers here at TheFootballLines.com agree that the Cardinals deserve slight favoritism however the sportsbooks numbers don't offer sufficient value to make a play. Can Arizona make it 5-0? How many get out of jail cards do they have? It will be interesting to find out but we are happy to leave this one alone.