Target the Point Total in NFC West Showdown

Week nine of the NFL season is here and just as everyone expected the Seattle Seahawks are in first place in the NFC West now halfway through the season. Well, no actually expected this for the most part but it’s happening and they have a big divisional game against the struggling Arizona Cardinals this weekend. I’m expecting a lot of points to be scored but before we get into why and what the number is currently sitting at let’s break down the game a bit.

Game Preview

The aforementioned first-place Seattle Seahawks will head into Arizona fresh off a win and with a (5-3) record. The home team Cardinals are (3-5) this season and enter this week off a loss to the Minnesota Vikings, a game in which they allowed 34 points for the second straight week and left with a lot of banged-up players.

Seattle and rejuvenated quarterback Geno Smith is currently the fourth-ranked offense when it comes to points per game with an average of 26.3. Smith is certainly a reason for that but this Seattle run game has been unstoppable this year even with the recent injury to Rashaad Penny. Rookie, Kenneth Walker III has been running with conviction as of late as he is up to 461 yards and five rushing touchdowns on the season.

The Arizona defense has done a mediocre job of stopping the run but they have been horrid at stopping the pass allowing 252.3 passing yards a game so D.K Metcalf and Tyler Lockett can also be in for a big day. Outside of the Cardinals defense which ranks at the bottom of the league in many statistical categories their offense, which was supposed to be the strong suit, has been inconsistent all season.

If there was ever a time for Kyler Murray and this offense to figure it out it would be this week against a Seahawks defense allowing 377.4 yards per game and 24.9 points per game. It’s still unclear if running back James Connor will be available so it might be Eno Benjamin at running back again this week but regardless of who it is Seattle is 28th in the league in rushing yards allowed so they have a chance for high production.

Point Total and Pick

Right now the total is set at 49.5 points and I like this game to go over that number. Neither team has shown much of an ability to be consistent on defense and at this point, Kliff Kingsbury might be coaching for his job so they need a big performance offensively.

Seattle has played four games on the road this season and allowed 27, 45, 39, and 23 points in those games and while they have won two of them the defense puts them in a position for Geno Smith to push the ball downfield often and try to make plays to stay in the game.

It doesn’t get much better when Arizona plays at home for their defense as they have allowed 44, 20, 20, and 34 points in the four home games they’ve played this season. Every time I think the Cardinals are starting to turn the corner they prove me wrong but last week against the Vikings the combo of Kyler Murray and Deandre Hopkins kept them in the game despite the loss. I see this being a back-and-forth game that could warrant a lot of points and why I’ll be taking the over.