A trip to Super Bowl 50 is on the line this Sunday at Bank of America Stadium when the Arizona Cardinals and the Carolina Panthers square-off in this season’s NFC Championship. Kickoff for this game is set for 6:40 p.m. (ET) and it will be broadcast nationally on FOX.
The Cardinals needed overtime to get past Green Bay in the Divisional Round of the playoffs in a 26-20 victory at home that failed to cover the seven-point spread. They are now just 3-5 against the spread in their last eight games and the total has stayed UNDER in six of their last seven games. Arizona is still a profitable 6-2 ATS this season on the road.
Carson Palmer had a big game against Green Bay with 349 yards passing while completing 25-of-41 attempts including a pair of touchdown throws to Michael Floyd and anther scoring strike to Larry Fitzgerald that proved to be the game winner. The concern heading into this Sunday’s game could be the lack of a solid running game in Saturday’s win. The Cardinals ran the ball 19 times, but they only gained a total of 40 yards. During the regular season they averaged 119.8 rushing yards a game, which was the eight-highest total in the NFL.
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It was a tale of two halves in Carolina’s shaky 31-24 victory over Seattle this past Sunday. The Panthers covered as 2.5-point home favorites, but they are still just 3-3 ATS in their last six games. The total went OVER the 41.5-point closing line against the Seahawks and it has gone OVER in six of their last eight games. Carolina is 7-2 ATS in nine previous home games this season.
Sunday’s game appeared to be over at halftime with Carolina holding a 31-point lead, but the Seahawks kept chipping away at the lead over the next two quarters while keeping the home team from scoring anymore points. In the end, The Panthers prevailed to make a return trip to the NFC title game for the first time since 2005. Cam Newton ended the day with 161 yards passing and one touchdown throw and Jonathan Stewart was back in the lineup to anchor the running game with 106 yards and two scores on 19 carries. Most of those yards came on a 59-yard run on Carolina’s first play of the game.
The Cardinals are 4-1 ATS in their last five road games, but they have failed to cover in six of their last seven games against a team with a SU winning record. The total has gone OVER in five of their last six playoff games.
The Panthers are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 NFC games and they are 9-4 ATS in their last 13 games following a SU win. The total has gone OVER in five of their last six home games.
The home team in this matchup has covered in the last four meetings and the total has gone OVER in three of the last five games between these two teams. These two teams met in the Wild Card Round of last season’s playoffs with Carolina coming out on top 27-16 as a 5.5-point home favorite. The total went OVER the 38-point closing line.
