New England Patriots vs. Arizona Cardinals Predictions, Odds, Picks and NFL Week 1 Betting Preview – September 11, 2016

New England Patriots vs. Arizona Cardinals Betting Preview

Where: University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale

When: Sunday, September 11, 2016, 8:30 PM ET

Line: New England Patriots (+6) at Arizona Cardinals (-6); total: 47.5 – view all NFL lines

TV Broadcast: NBC

Writer’s Pick: Cardinals (-6)

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Betting on the New England Patriots (+6)

A dire need to deal with early-season adversity did nothing to dissuade the oddsmakers from placing the New England Patriots as the offseason’s overall favorite at +600 to win Super Bowl LI. The Patriots have finished first in their division and have made the playoffs for seven-consecutive seasons, and the general outlook for this year’s squad certainly points to having those those streaks extended to an eighth season.

However, the Pats will face a formidable roadblock on opening week in the Arizona Cardinals, and things aren’t looking up for Bill Belichick’s boys with Tom Brady set to miss the first of his four-game, Deflategate-aftermath suspension on Sunday.

Brady’s backup, Jimmy Garoppolo, has only played 11 regular season games (zero starts) and made just 20 completions for 188 passing yards and a lone TD in two years in New England – mainly serving as Brady’s stand-in come garbage time.

Then again, Garoppolo will greatly benefit from having the best tight end in the league, Rob Gronkowski, as his main target downfield. Gronkowski has posted back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and led all NFL tight ends last season in receiving yards (1,176), touchdowns (11) and yards per catch (a whopping 16.3 average), and he even missed one regular-season contest at that too.

Let’s not forget that the Pats also boast a rather terrific defensive unit, one that ranked ninth in the league in yards allowed and 10th in points given up per contest. Even with the absence of defensive end Rob Ninkovich for the first four weeks (substance abuse) and the loss of standout linebacker Chandler Jones (more on him later), they still have playmakers aplenty in Jamie Collins, Malcolm Butler, Dont’a Hightower and Patrick Chung.

The Patriots must be able to stand toe-to-toe with the Cards on Sunday both on offense and defense indeed, as playing away from the confines of Foxboro does not do them any favors because they’ve lost four of their last five games on the road (SU/ATS). That includes last year’s brutal 20-18 loss to the Peyton Manning-less Broncos in the AFC Championship Game.

Betting on the Arizona Cardinals (-6)

After finishing with a franchise-best 13-3 record last season, the Arizona Cardinals are no longer merely sleeper candidates to represent the crowded NFC. In fact, they’re currently priced at +600 to win the conference this season, which is the same odds given to last year’s conference champs in the Carolina Panthers.

36-year-old quarterback Carson Palmer played all 16 games for the second time in three seasons with Arizona, and once again ended up with over 4,000 passing yards (4,671 to be exact – fourth in the NFL) to go with 35 passing TDs and a dazzling 104.6 passer rating.

Palmer’s three-headed bunch of prolific receivers composed of Larry Fitzgerald, John Brown and Michael Floyd is still intact, meaning the Cards are bound to explode through the air once more. Then there’s the emergence of running back David Johnson, who averaged 4.6 yards per carry and 12.7 yards per reception in his rookie campaign, to complement Arizona’s already-potent passing attack as well.

Let’s not forget that the Cardinals also had a stout defense last year, one that surrendered just an average of 19.6 points per game last season (seventh in the league). They even saw a major upgrade in their linebacker corps with the addition of the aforementioned Chandler Jones, who accumulated 36 sacks in four seasons with New England. Jones now joins notorious enforcers Tyrann Matthieu, Calais Campbell and Patrick Peterson to round out an Arizona D that’s stacked with elite-level talent from top to bottom.

As a parting shot, it’s also worth noting that the Cardinals have won five of their last six Week 1 contests (SU/ATS), making them a tough opening-week opponent for any NFL team and even more so for the visiting and depleted Pats this Sunday night.

Writer’s Prediction

The Cardinals (-6) dismantle the Brady-less Patriots in resounding fashion, 36-19.

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