This past Saturday, the first games of the NFL Wild Card games were played. The NFC Wild Card game was between the 11-5 Arizona Cardinals (NFC West) and the 7-8 Carolina Panthers. The location was the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, with gametime at 4:20 PM ET, and the game could be seen on ESPN TV. Let’s recap the NFL betting action.
The Panthers downed the Cardinals on the play of QB Cam Newton, and the incredible play of their defense, as they won the game 27-16. In this game their defense held the Cardinals to just 78 yards, while forcing them to make 3 costly turnovers. That turned out to be the fewest yards ever permitted to an opposing team in a NFL postseason game.
Comparing the team statistics, the Cardinals had 8-1st downs with 47 total offensive plays for 78 total yards, with 54 passing and 27 rushing, while having 2 interceptions and 1 fumble lost, and possessing the ball about half the time of the Panthers possession at 22:54 minutes. The Panthers had 25-1st downs on 74 total plays, for 386 total offensive yards, with 198 passing and 188 rushing yards, with 3 turnovers (2 fumbles lost & 1 interception), and possessed the ball for 37:06 minutes of the 60 minute game.
The offensive leaders for the Cardinals, was 3rd string QB Lindley who completed 16 of his 28 passes for 82 yards, with 1 TD, 2 interceptions and was sacked 4 times for a total loss of 31 yards. RB’s Williams & Taylor combined for 13 carries for 26 yards with no touchdowns. Receivers Brown & Fitzgerald combined for 7 receptions for 65 yards and no touchdowns.
Leading the offense for the Panthers was QB Newton who completed 18 of his 22 passes for 198 yards, with 2 touchdowns, 1 interception and was sacked 1 time with no loss of yardage. RB Stewart & QB Newton combined for 31 carries for 158 yards, with Stewart scoring 1 TD. Receivers Whittaker & Olsen combined for 4 receptions for 76 yards, with Whittaker scoring 1 TD.
This was a playoff game in which neither QB was very effective, in that they both were unable to reach the completion rating on average, or the yards per pass attempt on passes that went beyond the line of scrimmage. In the completion to attempt rating, Newton was 47.8 % while Lindley was at 50. %. In the yards per attempt, Newton average 6.2 while Lindley averaged 4.5 yards per attempt.
The season finals for the Cardinals was not a pleasant time, as they lost five of their seven final games of the season, and finished the season at 11-6.
So football fans, who bet on NFL at SBG Global or other sportsbooks, in this win for the Panthers they join teams with non-winning records that have won the ultimate 4 Wild Card games and this century, are 6-1 in Wild Card game. Now, it’s on to the rest of the Playoff games, and best of Luck wagering in 2015!