Buffalo (7-2) at Arizona (5-3)
When: Sunday, November 15th, 2020
Where: State Farm Stadium,
Glendale, AZ
Time: 4:05 ET | TV: CBS
Opening Odds: Arizona -2.5/48.5
Two rising franchises will duel in the desert on Sunday afternoon as the first place Buffalo Bills visit the Arizona Cardinals in Glendale, Az. The Bills lead the Miami Dolphins by 1.5 games in the AFC East entering Week 10, while the Cardinals trail the Seattle Seahawks by one game in the NFC West. Speaking of Seattle, Josh Allen and the Bills scorched the Seahawks defense last week in an impressive 44-34 home win. Allen was spectacular with 415 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for another score. The addition of wide receiver Stefon Diggs has given Allen a true No. 1 target. For what Buffalo gave up to get him, it better be worth it. Buffalo traded four draft picks, including a first-rounder, to Minnesota for Diggs. He has hauled in an NFL-best 63 passes for 813 yards, including nine receptions for 118 yards against the Seahawks last week. The Cardinals have reached the 30-point mark in four consecutive games after a 34-31 setback to the Dolphins last week, as Kyler Murray passed for 283 yards and rumbled for another 106. Arizona also traded for a star receiver during the offseason, bringing in DeAndre Hopkins from the Houston Texans. Hopkins only caught three passes last week but is only three behind Diggs with 60 receptions.
Arizona opened up as 2.5-point favorites in this one with a total of 48.5, but Bills’ backers have brought this line down a whole point. The teams haven’t played since September of 2016 when Buffalo won 33-19 at home. The rosters were much different then, as Tyrod Taylor and Carson Palmer were under center in that game. The Bills are 7-1-1 against the spread in their last nine games in the month of November, while the Cardinals are 7-3-1 ATS in their last 11 games overall.
Though the Bills scorched the Seahawks secondary last week, the running games needs to start helping out. They rushed for 34 yards on 19 carries with a two touchdowns and currently rank 12th in the league despite only averaging 100.3 rushing yards per game. Allen was 31-of-38 last week and has 19 touchdowns throwing and five more on the ground this season. Wideout John Brown had 99 receiving yards on eight catches against the Seahawks to give Allen a pretty good receiving corps. The Bills are coming to Arizona having won three of their last five games on the road. Buffalo’s defense has produced 24 sacks this season, sixth-most in the NFL. The Bills had a number of players sit out Wednesday’s practice, including offensive linemen Cody Ford and Brian Winters and cornerback Tre’Davious White. Buffalo will go into its bye week before hosting the L.A. Chargers on Thanksgiving weekend.
Murray has thrown 16 touchdown passes and rushed for eight more this season, but the Cardinals need more production from their running backs. Chase Edmonds produced 70 yards on 25 carries last week in place of the injured Kenyan Drake for just a 2.8 yards per carry average. Drake has a shot of playing this weekend versus the Bills and is being ruled day-to-day with an ankle injury. The Cardinals’ backfield can find it easier to establish their ground attack in Week 10 against Buffalo’s defense that is only 21st in the NFL with 125.9 rushing yards allowed per contest and 25th at 4.6 yards per rushing attempt. The defense has let Arizona down this year and has surrendered 68 points in their last two contests. Safeties Deionte Thompson and Budda Baker and defensive linemen Leki Fotu and Jordan Phillips were among the players missing from Cardinals practice this week.
The Cardinals defense has not been good lately, but they are still better than Seattle’s unit. Josh Allen will come back down to Earth in this one and Arizona will outscore the Bills at home. Buffalo is just 1-4-1 ATS in their last four road contests and the Cards are on a 7-3-1 ATS run overall.
Pick: Cardinals -1.5
Week 10 Staff Selections
