NFL Betting Preview: Arizona Cardinals at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Sunday NFL betting offers a matchup between the NFC West Arizona Cardinals and the NFC South Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Cardinals are coming off a lopsided loss at New Orleans to drop to 1-2 on the year though in all fairness they’ve played reasonably well (at least in their first two games). The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 0-3 and are something of a mess with dischord between head coach Greg Schiano and his players, particularly quarterback Josh Freeman.

From a coaching standpoint things look much better in Arizona and we like their new coach Bruce Arians. Arians takes over in Arizona and there’s a lot of hope in the desert despite the team’s 5-11 record a year ago. Carson Palmer may not be Tom Brady or Drew Brees but he’s a significant upgrade from the Cardinals revolving door at the position a year ago. Palmer does have a great receiver to throw to–Larry Fitzgerald is arguably the best in the NFL. The team still lacks a viable rushing game and the defense needs some significant improvements–plus they’re dealing with injuries. That being said, they’re already a much better team than they were a year ago due to some wise personnel moves and a huge upgrade in coaching.

Last season Greg Schiano was considered an inspired hire for Tampa Bay and they were considered a team on the rise. Now they’re a squabbling, undisciplined bunch with a starting quarterback (Josh Freeman) that wants to be traded and has regressed severely in terms of his performance. There’s definitely some upside with Tampa Bay despite their current off the field issues. They has one of the better offensive lines in the NFL and have upgraded their skill position players in the past year and now have a solid running back in Doug Martin out of Boise State to take the pressure off of Josh Freeman. Veteran wide receiver Vincent Jackson gives Freeman a big play target and even more options. Tampa Bay’s defense was very solid against the run though much less so against the pass which doesn’t bode well for them against Carson Palmer.

Basically, this is a play against Tampa Bay. There’s some upside with Arizona but we’ll gladly go against the squabbling Bucs getting points.

BET ARIZONA CARDINALS +3 OVER TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS