The Arizona Cardinals are deemed as the long shots to win the NFC West with odds of +1,800 to do just that in the NFL Futures. Not much is expected from Steve Wilk’s first year as head coach of the team, but the Cardinals can gather confidence with a strong preseason. They will look to make it 2-0 in the preseason this Friday against the New Orleans Saints (+130 to win the NFC South), who are also coming off a win last week.
Cardinals fans finally had a glimpse of rookie quarterback John Rosen playing in a live NFL game setup last Saturday, when Arizona took down the visiting Los Angeles Chargers, 24-17. Rosen struggled a bit, but that was always expected of a rookie. He threw for 41 yards on 6-of-13 completions without and touchdown nor an interception. Perhaps even more exciting for Cardinals is the sight of star running back David Johnson burning rubber again. Johnson missed almost the entire 2017 season due to a wrist injury, but is now cleared for action. He rushed twice for 28 yards against the Chargers, and could be given the same workload moving forward in the preseason. Rookie running back Chase Edmonds also impressed by scoring the match’s first touchdown via tremendous effort on a fourth-and-down scenario.
The Cardinals are 3-2 ATS in their last five preseason games.
Betting on the New Orleans Saints
The backup quarterbacks were the men to watch for the Saints last week, when New Orleans defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars in their preseason opener, 24-20. Tom Savage and Taysom Hill each had their turns to fortify their respective resumes for the No. 2 spot on the team’s QB depth chart. Savage passed for 70 yards on 10-for-14 completions, while Hill went 8-for-9 for 72 yards. Hill did more with his legs, though, as he also led the team with 52 rushing yards on seven carries. Neither quarterback scored a TD but both also did not have an interception. The duo could throw lasers again. this coming Friday opposite the Cardinals’ defense that allowed Geno Smith to throw for 218 passing yards. On defense, the Saints’ will look to get to the Cardinals’ signal-callers after recording a whopping six sacks in the Jags game.
The Saints are 3-1 ATS in their last four preseason contests.
