Free Picks: Arizona Cardinals vs San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers have been decimated by injuries all season and have officially been eliminated from playoff contention.  The Arizona Cardinals come into this one as -5 home favourites (-110 888sport) and will need to win if they hope to make the playoffs.

The Arizona Cardinals have had a bit of a roller-coaster season.  At one point during the season, Kyler Murray looked like a real MVP contender as he was running all over the field and finding open receivers.  Since then, they’ve come back down to earth but are still a formidable team in a very tough division.

This weekend’s NFC West matchups are crucial as the playoff race is as tight as ever, and the outcomes of these games will greatly influence who ends up making it.

The Cardinals are in a good position here since the San Francisco 49ers continue to be ravaged by injuries and will be forced to start C.J. Beathard at quarterback after backup Nick Mullens was ruled out for the rest of the season.  They have everything on the line, while San Francisco has absolutely nothing on the line.

The 49ers have been awful against the spread, going just 1-6 in their last seven games.  The Cardinals haven’t been much better at 2-5 in their previous seven games, but the point spread is just -5 (-110 888sport), which essentially means that the Cardinals have to win by a touchdown.

Under different circumstances, I might be inclined to give the 49ers the benefit of the doubt. However, with a third-string quarterback, a plethora of injuries, and a 2-8 SU record against the Cardinals in their last 10 meetings, I’m going to ride with the Cardinals to cover this weekend.

• Arizona is 5-1 SU in their last 6 home games against San Francisco
• Arizona is 4-2 ATS in their last 6 games against an NFC opponent
• San Francisco is 2-9 in their last 11 games against Arizona
• San Francisco is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games against an NFC opponent