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NFL Lines: Arizona vs. Carolina Wild Card Pick & Football Betting Preview

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NFL football betting action sees the Arizona Cardinals taking on the Carolina Panthers Saturday January 3rd at Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC. Cappers Picks provides free NFL football handicapping tips all season long.

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2015 NFL Wild Card Playoffs
Arizona Cardinals (11-5)vs. Carolina Panthers (7-8-1)
Venue/ Stadium: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC
Time/Date: 4:20 PM EST Saturday, January 3, 2015
NFL Wild Card Betting Odds
NFL Wild Card Betting Point Spread: Panthers -5.5
NFL Wild Card Betting Over/Under Odds:  38
***2015 BONUSES***
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Click here to view today’s… ATS Matchup Insight | CP Insider Gambling Preview

Arizona Cardinals vs. Carolina Panthers Preview

On the season the Cardinals are 11-5 ATS and they have an O/U record of 5-10-1 and the Panthers are 8-8 ATS and they have an O/U record of 8-8.

This season the Panthers are 4-4 at home and the Cardinals are 4-4 on the road.

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In their last games the Panthers beat the Atlanta Falcons 34-3 and the Cardinals lost to the San Francisco 49ers.

You would think the odds makers are crazy giving a 7-win team at home a 5.5-point favorite facing an 11-win team, but if you look at the end of the season they are not. The Panthers won their last 4 games of the regular season where their defense was awesome. On top of that the Cardinals lost their last 2 games and 4 of their last 6 and still do not know who their QB for the game will be.

The Panthers have given up an average of 10.75 ppg in their last 4 games. While they did shut down a couple of solid offenses in their wins over the Saints and Falcons they beat 4 defenses that ranked 23rd , 25th 31st and 32nd in the league.

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The Cardinals are hoping Drew Stanton can come back for this game, but that is unlikely. Ryan Lindley has gone 0-2 since becoming the starter and in their last 2 games Arizona has combined to score 23 points. Maybe the team should look to rookie Logan Thomas for a jump-start to the offense.

Cam Newton has played well in the streak for the Panthers, but he did not have a big game against the Falcons nor did Jonathan Stewart, who rushed for over 120 yards in 2 of the 4 games in the streak. The defense won the Atlanta game and they forced 3 Falcons’ turnovers. However, as a team the Panthers rushed for 194 yards against Atlanta and if they can duplicate that feat they should win this game.

Newton has WR Kelvin Benjamin and TE Greg Olson, but Stewart may be the key in this game. There is an 80% chance of rain, as of Tuesday, and the run game will be key. The Cardinals’ defense must play well, especially if they get poor QB play again. Overall, the Cardinals only rank 29th in the league defending the pass and 13th defending the run.

While Lindley passed for over 315 yards in the loss to San Francisco with 2 TD he was picked off 3 times. He has a legit WR corps with the likes of John Brown, Malcolm Floyd, and Larry Fitzgerald, but will face a Carolina pass D that ranks 11th in the league and had 2 picks facing Matt Ryan and the Falcons last week.

Kerwynn Williams rushed for 67 yards in the 49ers loss, but failed to average over 4 yards per carry.

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He must play well in this game to take pressure off whoever is the QB and the Panthers run D ranks 16th in the league and they shut down the run facing the Falcons.

NFL Wild Card Betting Trends

* Arizona is 9-3 ATS in their last 12 road games.
* Arizona is 18-6 ATS vs. a team with a losing record.
* Arizona has an Under record of 3-1-1 in their last 5 games.
* Carolina is 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games after allowing less than 15 points in their previous game.
* Carolina is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games following an ATS win.

4* Cappers NFL Free Wild Card Pick

I think the Panthers will have a good ground game and their D will play well. They will win and cover the spread advancing in the post-season.

Check out our Updated NFL Wild Card Playoff Odds.

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By Jason Green

Jason Green is back with Cappers Picks again to give out his free sports plays. As always he's hoping the Braves and Redskins can win a championship since their last one in the 90’s was long ago. He’s starting to know the pain of Cubs fans.