NFL Week 6 Picks: Falcons vs. Cards

Atlanta Falcons (1-4 SU, 1-4 ATS) vs. Arizona Cardinals (1-3-1 SU, 3-2 ATS)
NFL Football Week 6
Date/Time: Sunday – October 13th – 4:05pm EST
Where: State Farm Stadium – Glendale, AZ
TV: FOX

Point Spread: ATL -3/ARI +3 (SportsBetting.ag)
Over/Under Total: 51

ATLANTA FALCONS AND ARIZONA CARDINALS MATCH-UP:

This Sunday, the Atlanta Falcons and Arizona Cardinals will square off in a game of one win NFC teams. The Falcons are dead last in the NFC South at 1-4 while the Arizona Cardinals are also in the basement of their division, the NFC West, with a record of 1-3-1.

As I have said in pretty much every article I do on this team, the Atlanta Falcons came into this season with extremely high hopes. A former MVP quarterback in his prime, one of the best wide receivers not only in the game today but of all-time, and a defense who rebounded from injury and came in full strength. All of that has not come together at all. Not only are the Falcons 1-4, but they also are not even competitive. Last week, the offense finally started clicking. Atlanta scored 32 points on the road and still managed to lose by three touchdowns to the Houston Texans in a 53-32 game. Right now, the Falcons look lost. After last season’s sub-par performance, head coach Dan Quinn fired his OC, DC, and Special Teams coaches. Well, this 2019 team is worse…IN EVERY CATEGORY. Coming into the season, the only real question mark for Atlanta was the young Offensive Line. Where the O Line has not looked all world, they are certainly not the reason for this 1-4 start…at least is not solely on them. The defense is one of the worst in the NFL, Special Teams are a damn disaster, and the defense has missed more tackles than a JV high school team in their first practice. It is bad, real bad. The Dan Quinn “hot seat” talk a year ago was just by those who are overreactors and extreme fans…well now it is real…it is so real that the media has been asking owner Arthur Blank about the future of Coach Quinn. With that said, Blank attests that Quinn is safe for now, but a loss to the Cardinals and a 1-5 start COULD be the nail in the coffin for Quinn…Atlanta hopes they do not have to find out.

Well, unlike Atlanta, the Arizona Cardinals did not come into this season with extremely high hopes. A rookie quarterback in Kyler Murray and a first-year head coach in Kliff Kingsbury was the beginning of a rebuild for Arizona. In my opinion, the Cardinals are on their way to great things. Maybe not this year or next, but it seems like they have a solid foundation and found their QB of the future. Even in their losses, the Cardinals have shown signs of improvement week in and week out. They got their first win last week over the Bengals and are headed back home, hoping to keep the streak going. If Kyler Murray can get time in the pocket, he can and will pick this Falcons defense apart. The only question is, can the Cardinals defense stop the Falcons attack that appears to be finally hitting its stride?

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HOW THE PUBLIC IS BETTING ATLANTA AND ARIZONA:

Even with the Falcons being a huge disappointment in 2019, the public seems to think they will right the ship this week in Arizona. As of late Tuesday night, 72% of the betting action liked Atlanta to on the road and not only get the win straight up but to cover the spread of 3 points over the Cardinals. The Falcons this season have only covered the spread once. That was also their lone straight up win against the Philadelphia Eagles. Other than that game, a game that they nearly lost as well, they have been dominated in every aspect. I don’t know what the public sees this weekend, but we shall see what happens on Sunday evening.

WHY THE ARIZONA CARDINALS WILL COVER THE SPREAD OVER THE FALCONS:

The answer to this question is easy: The Falcons Defense SUCKS…BAD. The Falcons have made the most mediocre quarterbacks look good this season, and they made a good quarterback in Deshaun Watson look GREAT a week ago. Just check out these notes: In a game against the Indianapolis Colts, their QB (who would have been the back up if Andrew Luck did not retire early) started the game 16 for 16 passing…16 for 16?!?! I have seen quarterbacks that play catch that cannot complete 16 straight passes. Here is another -+Through the first three games of the season, the Tennessee Titans but hey have no fear, here come the Atlanta Falcons defense who lets Marcus Mariota pass for three scores in a 24-10 dominant performance over Atlanta. I will say this though, as much as your average fan wants to talk bad and put down the Atlanta DBs, if you look at it, it is the entire defense. The Falcons defensive line has not touched a quarterback in about three weeks…unless you count the handshake at the coin toss…they just simply are not applying pressure, and the opposing quarterbacks have all day. NO DB CREW can overcome that…not one. Here is the deal…Atlanta may win this game they might, but I, as a Falcons fan, have seen absolutely nothing that resembles a defense all season. Kyler Murray being mobile, will also create problems for the Atlanta defensive front. I see a high scoring 31-30 type game…who will win? I don’t know, but the Falcons will not cover.

Bob’s Pick to Cover the Point Spread: AS TALENTED AS THEY ARE ON PAPER, I JUST CANNOT TAKE THE FALCONS GIVING UP POINTS AGAINST ANY IN THE NFL RIGHT NOW. TAKE THE ARIZONA CARDINALS PLUS THE THREE POINTS AT HOME.