Cardinals vs Raiders: Odds, Spread, Preview: NFL Week 2 Predictions

Cardinals vs Raiders Week 2 matchup preview and current betting lines

Two of the most hyped teams of the offseason will look to bounce back after some underwhelming performances in Week One. The Arizona Cardinals were no rival to the Kansas City Chiefs, whereas the Las Vegas Raiders showed why the Los Angeles Chargers are the favorite in the division.

Neither of those teams could get a stop to save their lives. Moreover, it seems like it’ll be a while before they get into an offensive rhythm after barely playing their starters in the preseason. That’s a problem because they both need to bounce back in a big way.

The Cardinals gave Kyler Murray a bunch of money and a plethora of weapons, yet he didn’t look the part at all in the first game of the season. Derek Carr and Davante Adams picked up things where they left them in college, but they’ll need other guys to step up.

Of course, it’s still early to sound off the alarms, and both of these teams should still aim for a playoff berth. But they need to make timely adjustments after being dominated in their season debut, and going 0-2 would be a massive blow to their aspirations.

Players to watch:

Kyler Murray: Kyler Murray is in the spotlight after signing that massive contract. He was disappointing in the season debut with just 22 completions for 193 yards and two touchdowns, adding five rushes for 29 yards. He needs to turn the page quickly to silence his doubters.

Davante Adams: The superstar wideout didn’t disappoint in his Raiders debut. He hauled in 10 of 17 targets (NFL high) for 141 yards and one touchdown. Now, he’ll face a Cardinals defense that allowed 360 passing yards. His chemistry with Derek Carr is evident, and he could be in for a Triple Crown kind of year.

Week 2 Predictions: NFL Bet of the week on Cardinals vs Raiders

Cardinals +5.5

The opening Cardinals vs Raiders spread has the home side favored by nearly two field goals. Those are way too many points for two offensive-minded teams that can put up scores in a hurry, especially when they’re both desperate for a win.

The Arizona Cardinals did most of their damage in garbage time, scoring two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to make it a 23-point game.  Still, Murray doesn’t usually have two bad games in a row, and he has a very good set of receivers.

Kliff Kingsbury is an offensive-minded coach and he’ll look to improve from last week’s poor performance. They got just 18 first downs and were 3 of 12 in third down situations. Also, they totaled just 179 passing yards, which won’t happen vs. the Las Vegas Raiders’ shaky defense.

While we still believe that the Raiders could and should win this game at home, 5.5 are too many points in this situation. The Cardinals will be right into this game until the very end, and the Raiders may even need another game-winning drive by Derek Carr to get the win.

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Over 50.5

The Cardinals vs Raiders odds have this total projected at 50.5 points, which seems accurate, all things considered. Neither of these teams is defensively sound, and they’ll face two pass-heavy offenses with explosive potential.

Davante Adams made a statement in his first game with the Raiders. He proved that he doesn’t need Aaron Rodgers to post video game-like stat lines, so he must be licking his chops before facing a defense that allowed 360 passing yards in Week One.

The Cardinals, on the other hand, will want Kyler Murray taking shots downfield to torch the Raiders’ beatable secondary. They have one of the fastest wideouts in the game in Marquise Brown, and Rondale Moore could also be back.

Both teams have explosive wideouts and quarterbacks that are willing to take risks and let the football fly. We expect this game to have multiple lead changes and defenses to take a back seat to the offense; thus, we lean heavily towards the over.

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