The Arizona Cardinals opened the season with three straight point spread wins including a straight-up victory over the highly regarded Dallas Cowboys.
They haven't won a game since and only one point spread victory.
On Sunday, they host the Atlanta Falcons, and are hoping to see their projected starting quarterback, Kyler Murray, get his first game action of the year. If he does play, the Cardinals chances for success by most accounts would go way up. Arizona is currently listed as a slight underdog for Sunday’s contest at State Farm Stadium.
If he is the confirmed starter, later in the week, we can expect the Cardinals will shift from a slight underdog to a slight favorite.
Which brings us to their opponent this week. The Falcons are also in search of a healthy quarterback they can count on. Their regular season starter, Desmond Ridder, had a couple good games but in each of his starts has been saddled with huge errors with fumbles and interceptions that have limited his team to four wins in nine starts.
The young Falcons, across the board from a talent perspective, should be winning more games for head coach Arthur Smith. Atlanta is grouped in the NFC South Division with three other teams that are as reliable as a weak car battery on a cold morning. Last week, the New Orleans Saints got a win over the Chicago Bears, which moved them to the top of their division with a 5 and 4 won/loss record. The other two teams in this division, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers, have losing records while combining for only four wins in 14 decisions.