The Monday night game between Baltimore and Arizona would appear a foregone conclusion - but a closer look suggests it is anything but
“Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t”.
Thus spoke celebrated philosopher Jay Z – and when looking forward to tonight’s match-up between the Baltimore Ravens (record: 1-5) and the Arizona Cardinals (record: 4-2), you might be inclined to agree.
Yet do not be so hasty.
Both sides will be experiencing contrasting emotions coming into this game and it is entirely possible that may cause the result to turn on its head.
Firstly, the Baltimore Ravens.
From the outside, there can be no argument that a 1-5 record is terrible and there is a reason why they are 31/10 for the win.
But on closer inspection, there may be grounds for cautious optimism.
Of the five games that they have lost this season, all have been very close – all by six points or less, in fact.
So we are only talking about small percentages either way, a small dose of luck here and there and they could easily be 3-3.
History is also on their side with the Ravens winning the last four regular season meetings between the two side.
What is more, they seem to live a charmed life when it comes to MNF – winning seven of their last nine matches on Monday nights.
So Baltimore might be feeling that this is where it could all turn around.
On the other side of the coin, you have the Arizona Cardinals.
Their biggest threat will be their passing attack, which is among the best in the league.
Against a poor passing defence in the Ravens, quarter-back Carson Palmer will surely have a few opportunities.
Baltimore will certainly need to hope that they get a few players back from the injury room in order to stop themselves being picked apart.
If the Cardinals are to live up to their reputation as 1/4 favourites for this game, they will need to be much better than last week against the Steelers.
Despite starting brightly, Arizona capitulated and Pittsburgh scored 22 of the game’s final 25 points to storm to a 17-point win.
With both teams likely to come out firing in the second half, 10/11 for there to be under 24 points in the first half looks good value.
Arizona are heavily fancied to get back on track, but the Ravens are more than capable of giving them a large scare – if not a scalping.
For the odds on offer, Baltimore could be a lucrative lifeline.
