Free Pick: Arizona Cardinals vs. New Orleans Saints u57.0 (-110 odds)
Sat January 16th 2010 4:30p
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The whole country saw the Arizona Cardinals get involved in the highest scoring playoff game of all time last week, a 51-45 overtime win over the Green Bay Packers, but because of this, we are actually getting good line value on the Under this week when the Cardinals visit the New Orleans Saints.

Yes, the Cardinals looked terrible on defense last week, but they are much better than that and can be expected to make the necessary adjustments this week for a more normal performance. Besides, it was apparent even last week that Arizona does have a good pass rush, and they did record 43 sacks this season. The weakest link of the entire New Orleans offense may be left tackle Jermon Bushrod, so we see the Cards putting pressure on Drew Brees here.

Besides, as great as the Saints were offensively this season, they really have not had a good offensive performance in a month. Remember that they were on a bye last week and they sat their starters in Week 17. They also scored just 17 points in each of their previous two games, with the latter being at home vs. a weak Tampa Bay team.

We could easily see a rusty Saints team coming out sluggishly in the first half here, which would already put this Over in jeopardy given how enormously high this posted total is.

Also not to be overlooked here is the underrated New Orleans defense, which should do a much better job of keeping the Cardinal offense in check than the Packers did. Granted, the Saints did not play as well defensively down the stretch as they did earlier in the year, but that was because the defense was decimated by injuries. With cornerback Usama Young and linebacker Scott Shanie returning for this game, that defense is now virtually in tact and healthy again.

So the bottom line here is that nether team should score as much as many people expect here, and it is certainly encouraging to know that even if this game lands on 51 or 54, it would still be good enough to cash this Under ticket.

NFL Free Pick: Cardinals, Saints Under 57 (-110)

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