Do the Cards also lose their fourth home game?

Two playoff contenders and a 2-4 record twice: That’s the set-up for Thursday Night Game in NFL Week 7, when the Arizona Cardinals host the New Orleans Saints. Another home game, then, for the Cards, which doesn’t necessarily mean an advantage.

They have lost all of their last eight home games, including the three so far this season. Luckily for the Cards, they finally get wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins back after a six-game suspension for Thursday. With him back, the offense should be able to pick up some steam.

The Saints are also running behind expectations with a 2-4 record. It is mainly the ball losses that make life difficult for them time and again. With already 13, they lead the league in the negative area.

All in all, both teams still have a lot of work to do, which makes it difficult to make a prediction. For Cardinals vs. Saints, our forecast is still an offensively led match, in which the Cardinals hold the slight favourite status, also due to the return of Hopkins. However, we only underline this to a limited extent.

Kickoff of this tight Thursday Night matchup is Friday night at 02:15 in Phoenix, Arizona. The game can be watched live on DAZN.

Arizona Cardinals – Statistics & current form

Eight home losses in a row: What sounds like an underclass team on the road in tanking mode actually applies to the Arizona Cardinals. If they hadn’t had an 8-2 away record last year, they definitely wouldn’t have made the playoffs.

They’re already 0-3 in front of their own fans this year, too, so we’re not giving them much of a home-field advantage against New Orleans, even though there’s now a big glimmer of hope for next Thursday

Hopkins returns after his suspension

With DeAndre Hopkins, the Cardinals will be able to fall back on their No. 1 receiver, who was also sorely missed on the first few days of the game. However, the fact that Marquise Brown is out with an ankle injury is a bit of a downer.

Nevertheless, Hopkins should immediately give them a bit more depth in the passing game. They are averaging just 226.7 yards there so far this season – surprisingly little for a quarterback like Murray. With Hopkins, however, he should easily crack 250 passing yards on Thursday.

Cardinals with big running back worries

Another problem area for this game will be the running back position. With James Connor continuing to be out, Eno Benjamin will have to be the starter. However, he only has 254 rushing yards in his entire, short NFL career to date.

Another reason why the passing game will be even more important for the upcoming game. So for Arizona vs. New Orleans, the odds on Kyler Murray getting a lot of passing yards or passing attempts are definitely a good betting option.

Key Players:
QB: Kyler Murray
RB: Eno Benjamin
WR: DeAndre Hopkins
TE: Zach Ertz
K: Matt Prater

New Orleans Saints – stats & current form

The Saints like things exciting. Five of their six games so far this season have been decided within a score – including last Sunday in their narrow 26-30 loss to the Bengals. They led until a minute and a half before the end.

But then they played their own drive far too conservatively and poorly, only to immediately allow a big play by the Bengals. In total, the Saints allowed 300 yards through the air against Burrow and Co. – far too much for a successful game day.

Defence still too porous

So far this season, things have not gone well for their defence against both the pass and the run. The Saints also have the fourth weakest defence in the entire NFL, allowing 26.3 points per game. Only the three revolving doors of Cleveland, Seattle and Detroit are worse.

The Cards’ running back problem comes in handy, as they should be able to get a handle on their running game quite easily. That leaves the passing game, where they are sure to double DeAndre Hopkins on many plays.

That, in turn, then gives Murray room for the rest of his receivers. We can well imagine him taking advantage of that and generating some big plays through the air – though also the odd interception. It will be exciting to see which plays will have more impact on the final result.

Dalton solid, but nothing more than that

Never the less, 26 points scored of their own should be enough for a win. You can’t expect much more from a backup quarterback like Andy Dalton. He’s doing a good job so far and gives the Saints a chance to win every game (with 3 TD and 1 interception).

But the games have to be won by his sidekicks around Taysom Hill, Alvin Kamara or the defence. The Saints are still not succeeding enough, which is why they are only 2:4. For the Cardinals against the Saints, however, betting on New Orleans does not seem to be a bad option, as the value on the visitors is higher than on Arizona.

Key Players:
QB: Andy Dalton
RB: Alvin Kamara
WR: Michael Thomas
TE: Taysom Hill
K: Wil Lutz

Arizona Cardinals – New Orleans Saints Head-to-head comparison / H2H record

Six of the last ten head-to-head duels have gone to the New Orleans Saints in this matchup, including the last one in Arizona in 2016, but even more glaring from a Cards perspective is their eight-game home losing streak, which they will look to break on Thursday.

For that to happen, the Murray/Hopkins combination will have to work right away and win the turnover battle. There again, they have slight advantages this season (5 turnovers compared to 13 for New Orleans).

For Cardinals vs Saints, betting on either team is still a gamble, as both commit too many mistakes. Thus, betting on lots of passing yards from Kyler Murray, on over-points or on a touchdown from Taysom Hill are more interesting betting options.

Arizona Cardinals – New Orleans Saints Tip

It could be a very tough season for the loser of this matchup, which obviously puts the pressure on both teams. The Cards’ running back issues push Murray to throw a lot of passes, which results in two betting opportunities.

On the one hand, a bet on over 245.5 passing yards by Murray is a promising option in Arizona vs. New Orleans, but on the other hand, an interception by him is also a promising option. Murray in particular is a quarterback who likes to force it a little too much from time to time.

Alternatively, bets on Over 45 total points are also recommended. The Cardinals’ offense should get a push from Hopkins and the Saints regularly score over 20 points anyway. In addition, both defences have been anything but solid this season.