NFL Betting Tips – San Diego Chargers vs. Arizona Cardinals

BetOnline NFL Football Betting Odds: ARIZONA -2, Total 37.5

Here are some of the NFL pro football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

• SD has covered four of its last five pre-season games
• SD has won six of its last eight pre-season games SU
• SD has played four of its last six pre-season games UNDER the total
• SD has played four of its last five pre-season home games OVER the total
• ARIZ has lost eight of its last ten pre-season games SU
• ARIZ is 2-7-1 ATS in its last ten pre-season games
• ARIZ has played four of its last six pre-season games UNDER the total
• ARIZ has lost its last five pre-season home games SU
• ARIZ is 0-5 ATS in its last five pre-season home games

Arizona had its Super Bowl "rematch" with the Steelers last week and came up on the short end of a 20-10 decision. In terms of the offense, it was the same old story, as the ground attack, which was without Beanie Wells, gained just 70 yards, as compared to 259 for the pass attack. The Cards used four quarterbacks in the game, and the big battle – which is between Matt Leinart and Bryan St. Pierre for the third-string job – did not produce anything outstanding. St. Pierre was sacked three times, but you have to figure that he’s going to get more time, because coach Ken Whisenhunt is going to have to make a decision.

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Tyler Palko, out of the University of Pittsburgh, actually turned out to be the best Cardinal quarterback, and on the upside, twelve different receivers caught passes. The downside is that if that passing game isn’t working, Arizona doesn’t have very much to fall back on at the moment, and I’m not sure they care very much about the results of these pre-season games. They DO care, however, about getting a running game going, as that is something Ken Whisenhunt believes in at the core of his ideal offensive philosophy.

The Chargers trotted out LaDanian Tomlinson for a pre-season game, which was something different, and although he gained only ten yards, his presence means there may be more to come from him. One of the things that had to be encouraging for Charger backers was that Charlie Whitehurst and Billy Volek, the two backups, combined for 314 yards, although Whitehurst, the son of a former Green Bay Packers quarterback, did toss a couple of pickoffs. Charly Martin, a rookie out of West Texas A&M, who had 1867 receiving yards last year, made five catches for 67 yards and is going to be a pre-season producer, for sure.

This game is sold out, nothing new since they have sold out EVERY game at University of Phoenix Stadium, which gives you an indication of the excitement level of Arizona’s fans. This is what the Cardinals envisioned when they campaigned for the new stadium to be built. However, this hasn’t done a damn thing for the Cards in terms of their performance in front of hometown fans in the exhibition season. They have lost the last five pre-season games at home, both straight-up and against the number. Whisenhunt hasn’t placed a premium on winning these things, as the ledger has shown ‘Zona at 2-8 SU in their last ten. So let’s not expect "special" efforts.

In that kind of situation, we feel we’re better off taking the points, and we’ll do so, in a small recommendation, with the Chargers, the two-point underdog in the BetOnline pre-season football betting odds.

JAY’S PLAY: SAN DIEGO +2 *

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)