Monday Night Football Odds – Chargers vs Cardinals
NFL Week 1 Regular Season action sees the San Diego Chargers taking on the Arizona Cardinals on Monday, September, 8 at University of Phoenix Stadium. Cappers Picks provides free *NFL*handicapping tips all season long.
Two teams with high expectations take to the field in the final Week 1 game on Monday Night football when the San Diego Chargers visit the Arizona Cardinals. Both teams have serious playoff aspirations this upcoming season and each will be looking to kickstart their year with a good showing on National TV.
San Diego at Arizona
When: 10:20 PM ET, Monday Night Football, September 8, 2014
Where: University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona
Broadcast: ESPN
Chargers vs. Cardinals Betting Lines
NFL Week 1 Line: Cardinals -3
NFL Week 1 Over/Under: 45
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Let’s break the matchup down and see what could play out in what promises to be a highly competitive game in the desert.
Chargers
The San Diego Chargers finished 9-7 last season and went on to a playoff win. This season the Chargers will look to best that under second year Head Coach Mike McCoy. Philip Rivers is the key on Monday night – he was terrific last year completing nearly 70% of his passes.
Rivers will have a balanced attack again heading into Week 1 – Keenan Allen off a 1,046 yards, eight TD 2014 campaign is a terrific option, Ladarius Green and Antonio Gates exist as terrific outlets for Rivers and the Chargers rushing attack only got better during the offseason.
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Although San Diego’s offense was top 10 in the NFL last season in almost every category they could have a tough time against an Arizona defense that is one of the emerging forces in the NFL.
That said this game may come down to the play of the San Diego defense – a unit that was fourth worst against the pass in the NFL last year and just OK versus the run.
Dwight Freeney looks healthy which should help but the rest of the defense has been battered and bruised throughout the preseason – the Chargers won’t be at full stream in Week 1!
Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals finished 10-6 last year but missed the playoffs – they know they have some work to do in order to qualify for the playoffs in the toughest division in football and an NFC Conference that looks absolutely stacked.
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Defense was the name of the game last year.
But a look at the roster reveals some major holes. Karlos Dansby and Daryl Washington are no longer with the club and Darnell Dockett suffered a season ending knee injury in the preseason – yikes!
That said Arizona still has the pieces to make things difficult on the Chargers Monday.
Patrick Peterson is one of the game’s best pass defenders and should be a bit of a nightmare for Keenan Allen while Tyron Mathieu could also make things miserable for the Chargers’ pass catchers.
Arizona’s run defense is no joke either – expect San Diego to have a difficult time getting anything going at all in the run game.
That leaves things up to Carson Palmer and an offense that, on paper, looks formidable to say the least.
Larry Fitzgerald is prime for a huge bounce back year, Michael Floyd looks to be on the cusp of super-stardom and the running game anchored by Andre Ellington has opened a few eyes.
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Palmer and the passing game get a crack at one of the worst secondaries in the NFL last year – and that looks like the difference in this game.
NFL Betting Week 1 Trends
• Under is 9-4 in SD last 13 games on grass.
• Under is 8-2 in ARI last 10 games in September.
• ARI are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games in September.
Week 1 NFL Prediction
The Chargers were decent on the road last year – 4-3-1 ATS including both road playoff games against Cincinnati and Denver but unfortunately for them they are matched up with a team that lost to only San Francisco and Seattle on home turf last year.
Arizona’s passing game should dominate in this one and the Cards defense should be able to do enough to hold off what looks to be a decent San Diego offense.
Arizona is poised for a step forward this year while something tells me San Diego takes a small step back.
MNF Week 1 Final Pick:
Arizona Cardinals -3
Check out our Updated NFL Week 1 Odds.
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