Online betting players will be looking for a bounce-back season from Tennessee, but the Titans are off to a rough start with a number of players on the injured list, particularly on defense. This will come to haunt them when they host Arizona in their second preseason game on Monday night.
What: NFL betting
When: Monday, August 23rd, 8:00 PM ET
Where: LP Field, Nashville, TN
Pick: Cardinals
What’s On The Line
The Cardinals came back from 16 points down in the fourth quarter to stun Houston 19-16 at home in their opener, which was an extremely disjointed performance. The Titans tried their own fourth-quarter comeback, but fell short in a 20-18 loss at Seattle. This will be a meeting of 2006 draftees Matt Leinart of Arizona, and Tennessee’s Vince Young, who led Texas to a 41-38 win over Leinart’s USC in the Rose Bowl that year in one of the greatest college games of all time.
Offensive Matchups: Cardinals Titans Betting
Leinart was solid enough, going 6-of-7 for 49 yards, but it was Derek Anderson and John Skeleton who led the fourth-quarter comeback. Anderson was 13-of-22 for 88 yards, a touchdown and two picks, while Skeleton was 5-of-6 for 84 yards and a score. Granted, Anderson and Skeleton did their thing against second, third and sometimes fourth-string defenses, but it’s still impressive that they basically did whatever they wanted against the Texans. The downside was that star receiver Larry Fitzgerald was hurt, and he’ll probably miss the rest of the preseason as precaution.
The Tennessee offense was largely shut down for most of the game, scoring 11 points in the fourth to make a game of it. Young was 5-of-6 for 78 yards and a pick, while Chris Simms and Rusty Smith got the majority of the work, going 14-of-27 for 95 yards and a pick. The most impressive Titan was running back Javon Ringer, who had seven carries for 60 yards as he looks to lock up the backup spot behind Chris Johnson, who had seven yards on five carries, but found the end zone.
Betting Pick: Draw
Defensive Matchups: Cardinals Titans Betting
The Arizona defense gave up 356 yards against the Texans, including 98 on the ground, but that’s not that great as Houston isn’t a running team. The most impressive stat was in the red zone, where the Cardinals kept the Texans from scoring touchdowns in all four opportunities. Rookie linebacker Darryl Washington was all over the place, making 13 tackles, including nine on his own, along with a fumble recovery. He also showed he could blitz, and Washington could end up being a great replacement for the departed Karlos Dansby.
Linebacker Gerald McRath led the Titans with six solo tackles against the Seahawks, but Tennessee allowed the Seattle quarterbacks to pass at will on them. They did manage to shut them down in the fourth quarter, but it was too late by then. The Titans were especially soft on third down, allowing the Seahawks to convert nine of their 19 opportunities.
Sports pick: Cardinals
Notable Injuries: Cardinals Titans Betting
Fitzgerald (knee) will be held out of this game, along with linebacker Gerald Hayes (back) for the Cardinals.
The Titans will be without rookie defensive end Derrick Morgan (calf), defensive tackle Tony Brown (knee), linebacker David Thornton (hip), receiver Damian Williams (hamstring), defensive end William Hayes (knee) and corner Cortland Finnegan (groin).
Sport pick: Cardinals
Outlook and Pick: Cardinals Titans Betting
NFL betting odds have the Titans as a 3.5-point favorite at home, but we’re going with the Cardinals to come away with the win in this game. The Titans have a lot of injuries, which makes it hard to get a rhythm going whether you’re on the first team or the fourth team. The Cardinals lost Fitzgerald, but that’s fine, they know what he is going to do, and that opens up the receiving race a bit more as Arizona tries to replace Anquan Boldin. Check out Arizona as the underdog in your sports betting book.
Stan’s Pick: Cardinals