Arizona Cardinals getting love on money-line Vegas bets

The Arizona Cardinals have reportedly been a popular pick on money-line bets at Vegas, despite their status as a 6.5 point underdog in some places.

The Arizona Cardinals may not be favored to beat the Carolina Panthers when the two teams meet in Carolina for their Wild Card matchup in the NFC playoffs, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of people with confidence in their chances to pull this one out.

At the very least, they like the money involved in the equation.

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Pro Football Talk reports that 86 percent of the straight up bets on the Cardinals-Panthers Wild Card game have been in Arizona’s favor. That’s in stark contrast to those betting on the 6.5 point line, which has largely favored the Panthers. The biggest likely driver behind that trend? The money line available to those who do take Arizona.

Currently, the Cardinals are sitting as a +240 underdog, meaning that betters stand to win $240 for every $100 spent on their bet. Those aren’t bad odds for someone betting on an 11-win team in the wild card, especially when said 11-win team is facing the team with the worst record in the playoffs since the Seattle Seahawks went 7-9 in 2010 and still won the NFC West.

Still, there’s a reason the Cardinals are underdogs and that reason’s name is Ryan Lindley.

While the Cardinals enjoyed solid quarterback play from Carson Palmer and even backup Drew Stanton, the same can’t be said for Lindley, who has hardly looked like an NFL quarterback for most of the team spent under center in relief of Stanton. That was enough to scare betters away from naming the Cardinals as favorites despite their superior record.

The Cardinals still sport one of the best defenses in the league though and it’s not like the Panthers are world-beaters on offense. They do have Cam Newton at quarterback, which gives them a substantial edge in that department, but the Cardinals have spent most of this season defying odds and tough quarterback matchups.

The Cardinals aren’t the only underdog getting some money line love either. The Detroit Lions sit as +260 underdogs before heading to Dallas and are receiving 74 percent of the straight-up bets.

The Baltimore Ravens (+150) have garnered just over 60 percent of straight-up bets despite being 3 point underdogs at the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The same goes for the Cincinnati Bengals, who are underdogs on the line against the Indianapolis Colts, but have still received a majority of the money line bets.

The NFL wild card round is set to begin on Saturday at 4:20 p.m. EST with the Cardinals-Panthers matchup. Ravens-Steelers will follow that at 8:30 p.m. with the other two matchups set for Sunday afternoon.

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