ESPN’s John Clayton mystified by Arizona Cardinals’ underdog status in Seattle
Nov 21, 2014, 3:59 PM | Updated: 3:59 pm
The Arizona Cardinals own the NFL’s best record at 9-1.
They’ve won six straight games and own a three-game lead in the NFC West standings.
Yet, the Cards are about a touchdown underdog in their Sunday showdown with the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.
ESPN NFL insider John Clayton has one question regarding this development: Why?
“Last I checked, the standings have the Cardinals at 9-1,” Clayton told Doug and Wolf Friday on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “That’s three games better than Seattle, that’s three games better than San Francisco and it’s two games better than any other team in the NFC. Yet, they’re 6.5-point underdogs on the road against Seattle. How does that happen?
“I guess you say, if you go on the road, you normally lose three points. That seems to be one of the standard things. But are you telling me that on a neutral field, that is a 3.5-point spread when the team is three games better? That doesn’t make any sense.”
The Seahawks are 21-2 at home since the 2012 season. One of those two losses came to the Cardinals, who took a 17-10 decision in Week 16 last season.
Not surprisingly, the Cardinals themselves aren’t too bothered by the point spread.
“I would have anticipated that,” head coach Bruce Arians said earlier in the week. “Going up there, everybody is usually an underdog. It’s another one of those things that we don’t need any extra motivation to go play them, especially at their place. I mean, they’re the world champions. We’re just 9-1…we haven’t done (expletive).”
Clayton isn’t buying into the stories emanating from Seattle about dysfunction in the locker room. However, there is another factor that he thinks has affected the Seahawks greatly.
“I think what the issue is, there is too many people in the training room,” he said. “It’s something that Arizona has gone through, it’s been what San Francisco has gone through, and what it does is take some wins away — it hasn’t taken any away from the Cardinals — but it’s taken away from Seattle.”
The Cardinals-Seahawks game kicks off at 2:05 p.m. Sunday and can be heard on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. Pregame coverage starts at 10:00 a.m.
