Arizona Cardinals start year as betting underdogs vs. Kansas City Chiefs

The National Football League is back. Week 1 already kicked off on Thursday with a 31-10 loss for the Los Angeles Rams against the Buffalo Bills, and the Arizona Cardinals will get things started on Sunday at State Farm Stadium versus the Kansas City Chiefs.

The 1:25 p.m. kickoff you can hear on Arizona Sports is one the Cardinals are underdogs for at the sportsbooks.

Arizona is +5.5 on FanDuel’s spread as of Friday afternoon, and if you’re feeling confident in a win, the Cardinals are +210 for the money line. That means a $10 bet nets you back a total of $31 if Arizona were to pull off the upset.

Las Vegas was, at first, trepidatious in terms of making the Chiefs anything more than slight favorites. The lines at more sportsbooks were in the range of -3 for the Chiefs at the start of August before that separation began to make Kansas City more of a definitive favorite, per Vegas Insider.

Arizona’s injury status might have the line shift even further before kickoff. Wide receiver Rondale Moore, offensive lineman Cody Ford and cornerback Trayvon Mullen Jr. are some names high on the depth chart that are out, and even more important players like cornerback Byron Murphy Jr., offensive guard Justin Pugh, tight end Zach Ertz and defensive lineman J.J. Watt are all questionable.

The Chiefs, meanwhile, are a full go with no one listed as out.

As you might guess with these two teams, the books expect offense in this one. FanDuel’s over/under is at 53.5. That’s the highest in Week 1 across the NFL and over five points above 2021’s average over/under of 48.1.

Both offenses should repeat as two of the best in football, while questions about their defenses remain. Arizona’s pass rush, inside linebackers and corners will all be closely monitored on Sunday. Kansas City has some holes as well, with the Chiefs featuring a few rookies on a defense that underperformed last season.

Follow @KellanOlson