Seahawks favored over Cardinals in record Las Vegas odds
Posted on December 18, 2014 | By Nick Eaton
Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals
Never has a team as good as 11-3 been such big underdogs at home — by 9.5 points — than the Arizona Cardinals are for this weekend’s NFC West showdown against the Seattle Seahawks.
That’s what OddsShark said Wednesday, citing this week’s betting spreads from several Las Vegas sports books and going back to 1983. In fact, only one other time since then has an 11-3 team been a home underdog, let alone one expected to lose by nearly 10 points.
The Seahawks, trailing the Cardinals by one game in the NFC West, opened Monday in Vegas as 7.5-point favorites when they take the field Sunday at University of Phoenix Stadium. Now, four days before kickoff, sports books are favoring Seattle by anywhere from 7.5 to 9.5 points.
The NFL doesn’t usually work this way; the top team in the conference isn’t usually such a huge underdog.
A big reason is that Arizona is down to its third-string quarterback, Ryan Lindley, who will face the best defense in the league without help from running back Andre Ellington (on IR with a hernia). While Seattle’s own offense hasn’t been spectacular, Vegas bookies think Russell Wilson and Co. can score at least a touchdown more than Lindley against the Cardinals’ suffocating defense.
If the Seahawks win Sunday, they will take the NFC West lead and improve their chances for a first-round bye in the playoffs. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Sunday in Glendale, Arizona. The game will be televised on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” and, of course, we will have full coverage on seattlepi.com.
Reality Check .........
