The Arizona Cardinals’ second-team had a fantastic performance against the Dallas Cowboys in the Hall of Fame Game. Blaine Gabbert led the team on two long touchdown drives in the first two series of the game and the Cardinals raced out to a 15-0 lead over the Cowboys. Although Arizona only scored three points over the last 50 minutes of action and lost, the game indicated that the second-team is talented and Blaine Gabbert might be able to succeed in this offense. He will get another chance against the Oakland Raiders this week.
This matchup in Week 1 of the preseason will take place on Saturday, August 12, 2017,
at 10 p.m. ET at University of Phoenix Coliseum.
Week 1 NFL Preseason Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Oakland Raiders +3
Arizona Cardinals -3
Over/Under 39.5
Odds Analysis
Jack Del Rio had a much better preseason record with Jacksonville than he does with Oakland. Del Rio went 21-15 during his time with the Jaguars, but has posted consecutive 1-3 marks in preseason with the Raiders. His lone win last season was a big 31-10 win against these same Cardinals though.
Cardinals coach Bruce Arians is just 7-10 in the preseason. This is his fifth year and his only winning record in the preseason came back in 2013. Last season, the Cardinals went 1-3 and their one win was a 38-17 stomping over the Denver Broncos in the last preseason game.
Player to Watch
All eyes are going to be on Marshawn Lynch for fans of Raider Nation. Lynch was the team’s big offseason acquisition. The Raiders were able to convince him to come out of retirement with the allure of playing for his hometown team now that they are finally good again.
Lynch has been fantastic in training camp. There were some questions about what kind of shape he would be in once he showed up, but he has quieted all the doubters to this point. This week he has really taken some strides forward and looks like the slashing runner he used to be.
A year off has rejuvenated Lynch and he looks excited to be playing for his childhood team once again. He probably won’t see much playing time against Arizona, but it will be good to see him on the field once again.
Matchup to Watch
Oakland had a very shaky pass defense last year and didn’t do much in the offseason to get better. That unit will have to go against three experienced quarterbacks who can move the ball, at least in preseason.
Carson Palmer, Drew Stanton, and Blaine Gabbert have all been in the league for quite some time and each can beat vanilla coverages. Gabbert’s performance against Dallas in the preseason opener was pretty inspiring all things considered, but he knows he still has more to do if he wants to supplant Stanton as the team’s primary back-up.
Additionally, Gabbert knows he has to perform in order to keep the team from going with rookie Trevor Knight as the third option. Gabbert has outperformed Knight by a considerable margin so far, but if he has some bad performances that would hurt his chances.
Free ATS Pick
The play here is Arizona. While Oakland definitely wants to see what Derek Carr can do, it is not going to play him for a considerable amount of time. The Raiders lack the quality backups that the Cardinals have and that will give the home team a big advantage.
Additionally, Arizona probably wants a win just to forget about its disappointing 2016 campaign. The Cardinals finished with a losing record after three straight seasons with double-digit wins and pushing that from their minds is needed. The third- and fourth-teamers will be rid of the jitters after playing in the Hall of Fame Game too.
Week 1 NFL Preseason Odds: Cardinals 30, Raiders 17
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