NFL 2024 Season - PS3
Picksfootball
 

Headline Play

Articles published multiple times per week, offering insights and picks on upcoming games.
 
SEASON:

Article Archive

Conference Championships
Top-Flight QB Duel
Looking for a First
Cold Reality
Three and One
Divisional Playoffs
Winter Wonderland
Yes We Can
Getting Better
Three-Peat Begins
Correction
Challenge Accepted
Wild Card Weekend
Early Celebration
QB matchup
Starting and Ending Spots
Wild Card Trend
What to Like
Rookie Quarterbacks
Broken Fever
That's That
Week 18
Checking the Boxes
Needs and Wants
Four and Out
One or the Other
Point Spread Clouds
Fix It
Hollow Revenge
To Win or Not to Win
Week 17
All Knowing
Complicated Made Simple
Advanced Calculus
Glow Dimmed
Brink of Elimination
Game of Survival
Pleading for the Fifth
Need over Nothing
Christmas Grinch
Week 16
Numbers, Numbers, Numbers
Vintage 2018
Penix Debut
Dog Day
Playoff Position
Rest of the Story
Different Sundays
Run Some Tests
Without and With
Week 15
Two Tonight
Playoff Chances
Wild Card Challenge
Best of the Best
Next
Dire Straits
And It's Good
Bloated Lines
Week 14
Running up the Score
Challenge Me
Finding Reasons to Win
Crab Feed
Week Off
Good Enough
Buyers Regret
Pulled the Rug
Week 13
Mile High Hopes
Top and Bottom
Fourth Time the Charm
Bounce Back
Engage Spark
Line Up
Out in the Cold
Thanksgiving Visitors
Good Enough
Motivation on Steroids
Week 12
Second Best
Heavyweight Bout
QB's Ins and Outs
Everybody In
Too Easy
Walk the Plank
Hot to Trot
Try, Try, Try, Try, Try Again
Week 11
Mouse Trap
Must Game
Malfunction
Easy Does It
Old Foes
Falcons Fly into Mile High
Matter of Time
Improv
To the Brink
Week 10
Odd Man Out
Lions come Calling
Rookie versus Veteran
Call to Action
Full Reverse
When 8-0 is 4-4
Game of Contradictions
NFC West Bunch
Early Boarding
Week 9
Not Enough, Too Much
Real or Imposters
Groin Shot
Best Show
Saddle Up
Dull Edges
Telling Actions
Annihilation Formula
Week 8
No and No
Old Glory
Rookie Face Off
Adding it Up
Holding On
Jets Down
Unload and Reload
No Surprise
Career Paths
It Hurts
Week 7
Harbaugh Monday
Kids Camp
Barkley Back
Bird Battle
Mouse Time
Too Many?
Gone Shopping
Not Bad
40 for 3
Week 6
Try New
Night Vision
Trap Door
Looking Up
Wake Up Call
All Good Things
Bad Idea
Unexpected
Fire One
Week 5
Yes & Yes
Old Rivals
Rookie Sensation
So Close
Lunch in Seattle
Wake the Roosters
No Respect
Too Sweet
Turtle Flip
Week 4
Landmine
Bottoms Up
Winners and Losers
Call Me
Short Line
Reality Bites
Like Tonight
Uptick
Challenge Generates Performance
Week 3
Two Times
Reduced Value
Stars Down
The Other 21
Opportunity Knocks
Lots of Questions
Move Along People
Times Up
Week 2
Confidence Game
First and Second Picked QB's
Avoiding the Donut
Do or Die
One for the Road
Likewise
Adjustment Bureau
Down ... Not Out
Week 1
Time Marches On
Cashing the Trade
Start Here
Say What
Quick Up, Quick Down
Brazil Play Date
Top Two Open
Super Bowl Pick
Season Win Totals
Moving on Up
Breakout to Breakdown
Preseason 4
Preseason Wrap
Rookie Playoff Run
Preseason 3
Short Memory
Two In, One Up
Eagles Hunt
Winning Formula
Preseason 2
Quarterback Shuffle
One Two, or Two One
Starters Sit
Remote Control
Money be Damned
Preseason 1
One Season to the Next
Public Shift
Comets in the Night
Offseason
Mahomes Chasing History
All's Well that Ends Well
Ups and Downs
     
 
In and Out
by Dennis Ranahan

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.

So, do you want a bad Cardinals team in the first game back for their quarterback, or a Falcons team that after Ridder was cleared to play stuck with backup Taylor Heinicke?

We are not dealing with the cream of the NFL crop here, but on my charts the Falcons are a lot closer to emerging as a good team than are the Cardinals. And while Atlanta has stumbled to a losing record over the first half of the season, they have the potential from a personnel perspective of a strong finish and playoff berth as winners of this weak division.

If the Cardinals remain underdogs in this game, taking the Falcons as a road favorite without a reliable quarterback is high risk.

If the Cardinals get Murray back and shift to the point spread favorite, we have an Atlanta squad in a perfect spot to excel as an underdog.

I think the Cardinals will get Murray this week, and the Falcons will get the game.

Qoxhi Picks: Atlanta Falcons (-1) over Arizona Cardinals