Arizona Cardinals vs. New York Giants: Spread Analysis and Pick Prediction

The Arizona Cardinals laid waste to betting theory on West Coast-East Coast travel last year, going 3-0 against the spread in the Eastern time zone.

Arizona returns to the East Coast this week to take on the hapless New York Giants, who are 0-3 ATS in their last three games as home underdogs in New Jersey on Sunday afternoon.

The Cards have manhandled the Giants at the payout window in recent years.

Point Spread: The Giants opened as 1.5-point favorites and were bet down to 2.5-point underdogs by Friday. The total had moved down to 42.5 from an opening mark of 45 at most sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

Odds Shark Computer Prediction: Arizona 23.1, New York 14.8

Why the Cardinals Can Cover the Spread

The Cardinals opened this season with a come-from-behind 18-17 victory over San Diego on Monday night. Arizona trailed 17-6 headed into the fourth quarter, but Carson Palmer threw two touchdown passes—the second to John Brown with just over two minutes remaining—and the Cardinals defense held on from there.

Arizona out-rushed the Chargers by 57 yards (109-52) and held the ball for nearly 32 minutes, although it couldn't quite cover the spread as field-goal favorites, going 0-for-2 on two-point conversions.

Palmer didn't look great but made some throws when he needed to and didn't get picked off. Arizona is now 11-6 both straight up and ATS under head coach Bruce Arians.

The Cardinals have covered against the Giants just once in nine tries over the years.

Why the Giants Can Cover the Spread

The Giants are looking for a silver lining to Monday night's 35-14 loss to the Lions in Detroit. Perhaps they can say that at least they've got one game with their new West Coast-style offense under their belts.

Running back Rashad Jennings didn't make a whole lot of hay running the ball, but he ended with 96 yards from scrimmage on 20 touches. Defensively, the G-Men held Detroit to 76 rushing yards on 30 carries, so that's something.

Realistically, New York bordered on being non-competitive against the Lions. It can't get any worse, right? And playing in front of the home crowd should help too, right?

Smart Pick

Arizona is a team on the rise led by one of the toughest defenses in the league, while the Giants are on the decline, looking to ignite a spark with a newfangled offensive scheme.

It sounds like they're trying to teach an old dog new tricks. Ultimately this game, like most other NFL games, will be won or lost up front, and the Cardinals own that advantage. Therefore, the pick here is with visiting Arizona.

Trends

• The Cardinals are 7-1-1 ATS in their last nine games vs. the NFC East.
• The Giants are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 home games vs. the NFC West.

All spread and odds data powered by Odds Shark. Follow us on Twitter for injury and line movement updates.