Kirk Cousins had extra rest entering Week 16, which is important at his age. He's facing a Cardinals team that's given up 13 passing touchdowns in the past five games. And Cousins is coming off a vintage performance at Tampa Bay where he threw for three scores. I bet Cousins at plus-money to throw for two more Sunday.
Drake London is back for the Falcons, a huge boost to the entire offense. Atlanta is facing a reeling Arizona defense that has given up 85 points the past two weeks. Look for Kirk Cousins and Bijan Robinson to play strong games indoors as Atlanta, on extra rest, wins its second straight.
The Falcons have frustrated all season, but with Drake London back and Kyle Pitts actually getting the ball from Kirk Cousins, their offense is too formidable to overlook against a team that refuses to try and control the clock. That means more opportunities for Atlanta, which will look to hand Arizona a third straight double-digit loss. The Cardinals have dropped six straight and 11 of the last 12, and they are on a 1-5 ATS run. Lock in the Falcons under a full field goal and ride it.
Arizona’s offense has gone pass-happy with Jacoby Brissett under center. After losing multiple RBs to injury, the Cardinals had little choice but to throw the ball. Brissett now has 40+ pass attempts in 6 straight games, including one with 57 attempts! I like this game to go over the total of 48 with both teams trading scores. If we get that kind of game script, Brissett should be slinging the rock as usual. I like him to go for 40+ attempts again.
The total opened at 46.5 and is rising on most books, so I’m grabbing it here before it gets through the key number of 48. Arizona is 9-5 to the over this season, and 6-1 to the over at home. The Cardinals defense gave up 40+ points to the Rams & Texans in each of the past two weeks. Their defense has struggled, but their offense has been much more efficient with Jacoby Brissett, who faces a Falcons secondary that is trending down. It looks like Atlanta will get back WR1 Drake London, and Arizona may also have their WR1 Marvin Harrison Jr. available in a limited capacity. I see these teams trading scores in an indoor environment and pushing this total into the 50’s.
The Cardinals allow the fifth-most explosive rushes, which sets up Bijan Robinson for a big game. He didn't clear this prop total in the previous two games, but exceeded it in three straight before that. Arizona has given up 5.1 yards per carry over its last three games and has allowed three runnings backs to clear this number in the last two games (Jawhar Jordan, Kyren Williams, Blake Corum).
QB Kirk Cousins, whose future in the league wll be determined by how he plays in the season's stretch run, should be delighted to see WR Drake London suiting up. Atlanta's premier WR returns after a month of nursing an injury. On defense, the No. 2 unit in sacks should harass Jacoby Brissett on the passing-obsessed Cardinals. The Falcons have been up-and-down lately, while the Cardinals have been down-down. They own a single victory in the last dozen starts and have yielded at least 40 points in the past four games. London could not have picked a more promising scenario for his comeback.
"If it ain't broke .. don't fix it." We have cashed this in all but one week this season. He's had 40+ in six straight weeks -- 40, 44, 40 , 49, 57, 44. The one week he didn't cash, he still finished with 31 in a big win over Dallas. The Falcons are decent at limiting volume but still allow about 30 a game and game script should bode well with a decent back and forth. Plus, they're just 2-5 at home and 1-4 ATS as a home underdog, so we could even get some negative game script here and cash once again. We're seeing it bet up to 37.5 at a lot of shops, so grab it here while you can.
Jacoby Brissett has been slinging it since taking over as the starter and I don't expect that to change dramatically, even without the benefit of a garbage time script. The Falcons have actually been decent against the run as of late and its their pass defense that has regressed. With this in mind, expect the Cardinals to move the ball with Brissett's arm as he zeroes in on his primary pass catchers in the redzone.
Both teams could get their top receiver back this week, though it's not like either team has been hurting for offense in recent weeks with the Falcons scoring 23+ in six of their last seven while the Cardinals are typically also an offense in the mid-20s in scoring but have had to face a few tough defenses in recent weeks, knocking them down to the 17-20 range. But the real reason to like the Over is the two defenses, as Arizona has allowed 40+ points in four of their last six while Atlanta has given up 27+ in five of their last six. In an indoor environment, this should a game that reaches the 50s.
Crawford (ankle) is participating in Arizona's training camp, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN reports.
Love won't play in the Hall of Fame Game on Thursday against Carolina, Darren Urban of the Cardinals' official site reports.
Walker has been diagnosed with an ACL tear, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reports.
The Falcons placed Malone (undisclosed) on the reserve/PUP list Tuesday, Will McFadden of the team's official site reports.
Benson (knee) returned to practice Tuesday, Bo Brack of GoPHNX.com reports.
Walker is believed to have suffered a torn ACL during Tuesday's practice, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.
Walker was carted off the field with an apparent left leg injury at Tuesday's practice, Tori McElhaney of the Falcons' official site reports.
Tagovailoa (back) is trending toward being the Falcons' Week 1 starting quarterback, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.
Coach Mike LaFleur announced Tuesday that Beck will start Thursday's Hall of Fame Game versus the Panthers.
Coach Kevin Stefanski said Tagovailoa (back) will be "limited" at Tuesday's practice, Josh Kendall of The Athletic reports.
