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Weekend of bad beats, Rams at Cardinals betting preview

Frank Schwab gets you set for a massive NFC West battle royale between the Arizona Cardinals and the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football. Will the Rams bounce back after the demolition at home to the Cards earlier in the year?

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Video Transcript

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FRANK SCHWAB: Welcome to "Yahoo Sportsbook Daily." It is Monday, December, 13, 2021, and I'm your Monday Night Football betting guide, Frank Schwab. First though, let's go through some bad beats on the weekend. First of all, let's talk about Ravens plus 2 and 1/2 against the Cleveland Browns. Look I was on the Ravens side. I felt like I stole something in that one. If you had the Browns minus 2 and 1/2, you felt good the entire day. Lamar Jackson's knocked out of the game. You're facing Tyler Huntley. The Browns really controlled that game really from beginning to almost end. At the end, the Ravens rally a little bit, then they put together a long drive. McAndrews scores a touchdown. They kick the extra point. Now, they're only down 2. They ended up almost winning that game. They got an onside kick. You think, oh, they got Justin Tucker. They got a chance to get in field range. They couldn't close the deal to win the game, but they did get that backdoor cover. You had to feel sick if you were a Browns backer.

Now, I'm not sure if a game in the afternoon really counts as a bad beat, but let's talk through it anyway. Might be kind of cathartic. If you had the Bills plus 3 and 1/2, you probably felt like this was a bad beat. But you were losing most of that game. You're down 21. The Buccaneers are just killing the Bills for a while. You have no hope.

And then Josh Allen Wills that team back. He gets them to overtime. They had a chance to win in regulation. He just barely missed a touchdown there at the end. They tie the game. They even get the ball first in overtime. You're feeling good about that, but then they punt it away. But still you're thinking, plus 3 and 1/2. It should be fine. The Buccaneers, maybe they come down and kick the game-winning field goal, but 3 and 1/2 I'm good.

But then Burchard Perryman of all people-- how many people knew he was still in the league? The former Ravens first round draft pick. He busts a 58-yard touchdown. The Buccaneers win by 6. Bills plus 3 backers. Dealt a pretty tough beat, but again, you probably shouldn't have bet in that game anyway. It was a rough one, but still not sure if that's exactly a bad beat, but it was a rough one to deal with if you were a Bill's backer on that one.

Let's talk about one good bad beat. We don't talk about good bad beats a lot, but this caught my eye-- a headline out of "The Detroit News." At MGM Grand Detroit last month and a Texas hold'em game, there's a progressive jackpot that hit when a guy was dealt [? quartettes, ?] and he lost a quad [? queens. ?] You're never going to see this once in a lifetime, and that's why that bad beat jackpot paid $800,954 according to "The Detroit News." That's just proof positive that not all bad beats are terrible. This one was pretty good for the guy who had those [? quartettes, ?] won the $800,000. Congratulations there out at MGM Grand Detroit.

So we'll go into Monday Night Football on a bright note, and what a game do we have here. The Los Angeles Rams at the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals are 2 and 1/2 point favorites, and I'll be honest, I don't think that's enough. The Cardinals are clearly the better team this season. Look, let's get rid of all the preseason expectations we had. We thought the Rams were going to be great. We thought the Cardinals might finish in last place in that division. All the Cardinals have done is win games. They lost one game to the Panthers when their entire offense was decimated. That was a tough one, but let's still give the Arizona Cardinals credit for going 2 in 1 without Kyler Murray, without DeAndre Hopkins.

And their other loss came at home last seconds against the Packers. They probably shouldn't have lost that game, but it's the kind of game that happens in the NFL. The rest of the time, the Cardinals have been the best team in the NFL. So let's repeat that because it's the truth-- the Cardinals are the best team in the NFL. Now, does that mean they're going to win Super Bowl? Not necessarily. The playoffs are hard. But to this point in the season when we're looking at the Arizona Cardinals, you have to call him the best team. They've been fantastic. 10 and 2, best record in football, some quality wins in there, including a quality win at the Los Angeles Rams. They want 37-20. Kyler Murray had a big game. They really dominated that game. I don't know what's really changed since then. The Cardinals aren't any worse, and if anything, the Rams have proven to us they're really, really good against bad teams, but they struggle against good teams. They've really only had one big time quality win that was against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but that was a while ago. Maybe you want to count the Indianapolis Colts win. That's fine if you do, but mostly they've struggled against the good teams on their schedule. Matthew Stafford has had this issue going all the way back to his Detroit days. He just shrinks a little bit against the best teams on the schedule.

Now, can the Rams go to the desert and win this game? Absolutely. They're talented enough for that, but I just don't trust them yet in these marquee games. I want to see a little bit more out of the Rams. I want to see some more quality wins on their ledger before I'm able to take them at such a small number against a very, very good Arizona team that's still going for the number one seed, of course. The Packers and Bucs are right behind them. They can't afford a loss. There's a huge game for them too. They can basically put away the NFC West. I really like the Cardinals in this spot.

Again, you're getting a better team at home that's already beat the Rams by 17 points, and you're laying less in the [INAUDIBLE]. Perfect situation for me. Really like the Cardinals here. I do think that they're the right value here. So let's look into some props too, because there's a couple I like. I like James Conner, who's scored a first touchdown, a plus-650. He scored a touchdown six straight games. He's a touchdown machine for the Cardinals. Whether or not Chase Edmonds is back, James Conner is the one that scores points for them down near the goal line. It's him or Kyler Murray. But at plus-650, I do like James Conner here to score that first touchdown, so he's a fun prop over at MGM.

I also have Cooper Kupp over 7 and 1/2 catches. He's going to be charged it often in what I anticipate is going to be a competitive game. Or the Rams are going to fall behind by a lot early on, and they're going to have to pass on. I don't see the Rams blowing out the Cardinals in this game. That's going to mean a lot of targets for Cooper Kupp. He should go over 7 and 1/2 receptions. He's been the most prolific receiver in the NFL this season. I don't think that number is too high.

And another Rams receiver overall take is Van Jefferson, over 52 and 1/2. Everybody expected Odell Beckham to kind of be the man there with Robert Woods injury, but then Jefferson is the once sucking up a lot of targets. Matthew Stafford really trusted me. Has a rapport with him. I think Van Jefferson is going to get a lot of targets. He's a deep play threat, so you can hit that 52 and 1/2 or at least a big chunk of it with one play. You know I like guys like that, so Van Jefferson over 52 and 1/2. I do like that one too.

Let's recap real quick. I love the Arizona Cardinals, minus 2 and 1/2 again. Better team, at home. I already beat the Rams. Laying less than a field goal. That's perfect for me. I'll take that. Like James Conner scored a first touchdown, plus-650 odds could get a nice payday early on in that Monday Night Football game. Like Cooper Kupp, over 7 and 1/2 catches because he's Cooper Kupp. He just does this week in, week out.

And Van Jefferson, over 52 and 1/2 receiving yards. He's been targeted a lot by Stafford. He's a big play threat. I think he gets over that 52 and 1/2 in this game. You can follow me on Twitter over at Yahoo Schwab and follow all of our content over at "Yahoo Sportsbook." Create a Bet MGM account, and place your first bet risk free bet up to $1,000. If your bet loses, you get your bet amount up to 1,000 added back to your account and free bets.

You must be 21 or older in Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming only. Terms apply. Go to betmgm.com/how to get started, or use promo code Yahoo when making your first deposit. Pam will be back tomorrow to host the next episode of "Yahoo Sportsbook Daily." Until then, good bye and good luck.