Betting Overview:The Dallas Cowboys get to spend Christmas Day in the desert, and it almost seems a fitting sentence for the season the Cowboys have had this year. The preseason NFL predictions surrounding the Cowboys were all about the playoffs, but the NFL scores that Dallas was generating told a different story. The Cowboys had the talent to prove the NFL betting experts right, they just did not want to find a way to start winning games until it was way too late.
The Arizona Cardinals are lost without now-retired quarterback Kurt Warner. The Cardinals are now on their fourth starting quarterback this season if you count the short but unsuccessful Matt Leinart experiment in the preseason. The Cardinals are without an offensive leader and that means they have no offensive identity. With players such as wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and running back Tim Hightower languishing in an unproductive offense, the Cardinals are a study in how important a good quarterback can be.
Offense:
The Cowboys seem to be rolling right along with Jon Kitna playing quarterback instead of the injured Tony Romo. But the injuries are starting to pile up against the Cowboys, and that could be a problem in this Christmas Day matchup. Running back Marion Barber and wide receivers Roy Williams and Dez Bryant are all expected to miss this game. Their status of Roy Williams and Marion Barber is questionable for this game, but the Cowboys are not talking like they will have all of their starters for this game. That means the backup quarterback will have to work with second and third-string receivers to try and win this game.
The Cardinals are on plan “C” at quarterback with rookie John Skelton. What the Cardinals are doing is trying to survive until the end of the season, and it will be a long last two games for the team from Arizona. As bad as the Cowboys seem to have it on offense with injuries, the Cardinals have it much worse and the Cardinals are not suffering from injury problems.
Defense:
The Cowboys defense has been unpredictable for much of the season. The team is ranked 14th against the run allowing an average of 109 yards per game, but the same defense is ranked 31st in points against by allowing an average of 28 points per game. The Cowboys defense seems capable of exploiting the weak Arizona offensive line and rattling the rookie quarterback early. The only problem the Dallas defense may experience all day is trying to contain running back Tim Hightower.
The Arizona Cardinals defense is ranked at or near the bottom of the league in every category. The Cardinals have a more serious problem trying to stop the run and, considering the injuries that Dallas has at wide receiver, that may mean a lot of Dallas running back Felix Jones in this game.
The Bottom Line:
The Cardinals will probably pull back and start all over after this season, but for now they are going to have to work extremely hard to avoid being embarrassed at home by the Dallas Cowboys.
BSNblog Pick: Dallas Cowboys
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