Detroit Lions at Arizona Cardinals NFL Sports Betting Guide

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For the second straight season, the Detroit Lions see their season open against a first-round draft pick and expected franchise quarterback. Last year, they were walloped in a home contest against Sam Darnold and the New York Jets on Monday Night Football. This year they get a road game against Kyler Murray and rookie head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who are both trying to adjust to life in the NFL.

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DETAILS

• Opening Lines: The Cardinals actually opened at -2, but the line has swung drastically in favor of the much more experienced Lions. As for the over/under, the line has shot up two full points after opening at 44.5
• Current Line: Detroit -2.5
• O/U: 46.5
• Location: State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona
• Start Time: 4:25 pm ET
• Television: FOX
• Last Meeting: December 9, 2018 – Detroit defeated Arizona 17-3 in Arizona.

OVERVIEW

Last year was unbelievably disappointing for the Detroit Lions. After a 9-7 season in 2017, they elected to fire head coach Jim Caldwell and bring in Matt Patricia. The team faltered finishing 6-10, including a horrific showing in Week 1 on Monday Night Football. But there were glimmers of hope. Kerryon Johnson rushed for over 100 yards in a game, the Lions first player to do that since Reggie Bush in 2013, and Patricia was able to beat the eventual Super Bowl Champion Patriots on Sunday Night Football. 

As for injuries, the Lions took quite a few hits in the preseason with middle linebacker Jarrad Davis expected to miss a great deal of time and guard Frank Ragnow expected to miss the season. The loss of Ragnow is a huge blow to an offensive line that will be leading the way for a healthy Kerryon Johnson, in what coaches are insisting will be a run first offense. The loss of Davis greatly impacts a defense that already lost safety Glover Quin to retirement at the end of last season.

The Cardinals, on the other hand, did the unthinkable this past offseason when they traded away Josh Rosen, last year’s first-round pick, to the Dolphins for a third-rounder. It was an unprecedented move, one nearly as unprecedented as their firing of Steve Wilks after just one season. They replaced Wilks with Kliff Kingsbury, a very controversial choice, but one that should put the NFL on alert that they plan on using Kyler Murray to throw the ball downfield to their weapons.

The Cardinals offense returns a lot of talent to support Murray. David Johnson, Christian Kirk, and the ageless wonder, Larry Fitzgerald should give Murray plenty of options this season. Remember, this is a team that had an NFL worst 241.6 yards per game last season, finishing 48.3 yards behind the next lowest team. While they’ve made what look to be the necessary offensive adjustments, the defense is still a question mark. They gave up a league-worst 154 yards per game on the ground last season.

TRENDS

• Arizona is 6-3 ATS against the Lions in their last nine games and 7-2 SU.
• Detroit is 1-8 ATS on the road against Arizona in their last nine.
• Arizona is 1-4 ATS in their last five Week 1 games.
• Detroit is 1-4 SU in their last five games in September.
• Arizona is 2-5 ATS in their last seven games
• The under has hit in each of Detroit’s last seven games.
• The over has hit in 11 of the last 15 matchups between the two teams.
• The total has gone under in all of Arizona’s last 6 games played in September.

PROP BET

Kerryon Johnson over 76 yards (+114)
Darrell Bevell takes over for Jim Bob Cooter and insists that they are going to be a run-first offense. There’s no better time to prove that than against the league’s worst rush defense from a year ago. I like Johnson to clear 100 yards as the Lions try to keep the ball out of Kyler Murray’s hands.

BOTTOM LINE

Last year the Lions gave up. Kerryon Johnson didn’t see the field after Thanksgiving and because of it, Detroit’s offense suffered. The Lions, and bettors, still remember what happened last year against Sam Darnold, and while I expect Kyler Murray to have some flashes of greatness I think he makes too many mistakes, and Detroit manages to keep the ball out of his hands with their much-improved run game. A lot of people are thinking this will be a shootout, but I think it’s going to be a much lower scoring game than many anticipate. While I’m not confident either way on the over/under number, I do think the experienced Lions take care of business on the road.

Pick: Lions -2.5

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Philip Wood is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Philip, check out his archive and follow him @Phil_Wood_Jr.