Arizona Cardinals vs. Raiders Best Bets for Week 2 (Redemption?)

The Arizona Cardinals are looking for a better result against the Las Vegas Raiders after their demoralizing Week 1 loss. 

Following their Week 1 debacle against the Chiefs, you may find it tough to bet on the Arizona Cardinals. However, with it still being early in the season, teams like the Cardinals and even the Raiders (0-1) are still working to find their groove.

And despite the many injuries the Cardinals are dealing with, they still have an effective quarterback in Kyler Murray capable of making those around him better. Last week, he found a bright spot in Greg Dortch, and with Zach Ertz slated to play more, Murray figures to fare better this week.

Defensively, the Cardinals are still dealing with injuries that could hamper their ability to stop the Raiders and their formidable trio of Derek Carr, Darren Waller, and Davante Adams. Overall, this one may be an offensive affair, but sometimes counter-intuitiveness is the way to go.

Best Bet #1 – UNDER 51.5 (-114)

The Cardinals offense looked bland against the Chiefs last Sunday, but they managed to crawl over the 53.5 OVER with ease, thanks mainly to the Chiefs 44 points. With the defense still weak on Sunday, it’s easy to bet the OVER in this one.

However, the NFL is a bag full of expect the unexpected tricks. So this week, I have the Cardinals pulling this one out 24-20 with an unexpected uptick in a defense that showed us little last week.

It will be an unexpected showing, but there are enough pieces playing for the Cardinals this Sunday looking to prove they are better than what they played like last week. Not that the Raiders won’t have their moments – they will – yet strange things happen in a span of 168 hours.

Best Bet #2 – Arizona Cardinals Moneyline (+190)

Of course, you can also go with the (+5.5) spread here if you are not confident that the Cardinals take this one outright. But when you look at the team’s recent history, they have shown that they can win on the road early in the season.

Given their road success, which includes two straight wins in their road openers, the odds are in the Cardinals favor more than most think. Yes, this is an injury-riddled football team coming to the Mojave, but with pieces like Ertz and guard Justin Pugh (presumably) back in the lineup, the Cardinals have a better chance to hang with their opponent in this one.

Best Bet #3 – TD Scorer Prop – Davante Adams (-200)

Unfortunately, the reality is that the Arizona Cardinals are still rather weak at corner. So much, they had Isaiah Simmons lining up in the slot corner more often than he played at inside linebacker. This tells me Davante Adams, even if the Cardinals contain him, will probably score.

Overall, he is the best bet to score among offensive players on both teams. Darren Waller, who I listed as a decent prop bet for the week, also has a good chance of scoring.

Last week, my best bets outing went way better than my prop bets, and I finished the week at 2-1. Of course, it was easy to ace the Mahomes 2.5 touchdown passes bet, and the Over/Under. However, I fell five points short of my bet that both teams would score 25 points, but you can’t win them all.

(Data provided by Fan Duel as of Saturday, September 17th, 2022)