NFL Football Betting: Detroit Lions at Arizona Cardinals

By BetOnline September 6, 2019

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The Detroit Lions are entering their second season with Matt Patricia at the helm and he’s already on the hot seat. However, he should be able to deliver a win against the Arizona Cardinals, who are starting a rookie at quarterback and have a rookie head coach. That’s probably part of why the lines have moved up from a PICK to Lions -2.5. Are they the best bet in this game? Let’s take a closer look.

DETROIT LIONS AT ARIZONA CARDINALS
DATE: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2019 – 4:25 PM ET
NFL ODDS: LIONS -2.5
NFL TOTAL: 48.5

WHY THE LIONS WILL COVER THE SPREAD…

The Lions know that Kyler Murray is talented but they also know he is inexperienced. Whatever happens in the preseason has no real connection to what happens in the regular season. The defenses are no longer vanilla, the first-string players on a roster stay in a game for all four quarters and there are no backups to feast on. Everything is different.

The Lions have a head coach, Matt Patricia, who has won a Super Bowl as a defensive coordinator. He has coached at the highest level of the sport and he’s had plenty of time to study game film of Kyler Murray in preparation for this season opener. Whereas the Lions’ subsequent film studies of future opponents will have regular-season film to work with, Patricia will be studying preseason film plus plenty of film from Murray’s days at the University of Oklahoma. In the chess match between Murray and Patricia, expect Patricia to come out on top.

The other factor here is that the Lions have a really strong run defense. How will the Cardinals win if they put the game on Murray’s shoulders?

On the other side of the ball, the Lions should have good matchups with an offense that’s been replenished. Matthew Stafford will have added weapons like T.J. Hockenson and Danny Amendola to abuse a Cardinals defense that’s without it’s top two corners, Patrick Peterson and Robert Alford.

WHY THE CARDINALS WILL COVER THE SPREAD…

The Cardinals know what everyone else in the NFL also knows: the Detroit Lions struggle to run the ball. Detroit really hasn’t recovered since Barry Sanders left the franchise as they simply have not been able to generate a balanced offense. That’s why Stafford is constantly under pressure and has not had the career many people expected of him. The Lions’ offensive limitations are going to continue to haunt them until they can truly show they have changed their identity and have developed more versatility in their offensive approach. They throw a lot of short passes as extended handoffs, but that means Stafford is taking too many dropbacks and is at risk of too much punishment.

If the Lions are traveling and can’t run the ball, they’ll be challenged.

As for the Cardinals’ offense, nobody really has a book on it yet. If the Cardinals can spread the Lions out and protect Murray on his dropbacks, he should be able to pick apart one of the weaker secondaries in the NFL.

TAKING A LOOK AT THE TOTAL

The Lions’ lack of a consistent running game and Murray’s inexperience create a simple recipe for a low-scoring game. The Cardinals offense won’t be able to find their balance and they’ll sputter early on. Meanwhile, the Lions will do some damage but this won’t be a shootout by any stretch of the imagination.