Chiefs vs. Cardinals Point Spread: NFL Pre-Season Week 2 Odds, Prediction
The newest generation of star quarterbacks takes the field on Friday when Kyler Murray’s Arizona Cardinals host Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs at State Farm Stadium. Weirdly enough, both teams actually won by the same score in Week 1 of the preseason, 19-16. The Cards took down Dallas at home last week, while the Chiefs won in San Francisco.
Kansas City is a 2-point favourite to win on the NFL preseason odds, with a total of 41.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
These teams were due to meet in last year’s preseason before the COVID cancellation. The last exhibition game they did face off in was a 34-19 Chiefs win in Arizona during the 2015 preseason. They haven’t met in the regular season since Week 10 in 2018, Mahomes’ MVP season. Kansas City won that game 26-14 at home, with Mahomes throwing for 249 yards and two TDs.
Expect to see more of both Mahomes and Murray in this game. Mahomes on played four snaps last week and Murray didn’t play at all. Week 2 is generally when coaches prefer to get their starters into the action to get the team up to game speed. Neither head coach has a winning career record in the preseason. Arizona’s Kliff Kingsbury is 2-3 all-time, while Kansas City’s Andy Reid is 40-45.
Kansas City Chiefs
With Mahomes only playing one series, Kansas City split quarterback duties between Anthony Gordon (11/17, 79 yards), Shane Buechele (8/11, 76 yards) and Chad Henne (6/9, 36 yards, TD, INT) last week. Trailing with less than three minutes left in the game, Buechele led the final drive and punched in the winning touchdown on a one yard scramble. Wide receiver Daurice Fountain led all pass-catchers with four receptions and 38 yards.
Tim Ward was the defensive star of the game. The second-year defensive end finished with five tackles and two sacks, with his final sack preserving the win. Defensive lineman Chris Jones, defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton and linebacker Omari Cobb also picked up sacks on the night. Linebackers Darius Harris (finger) and Riley Cole (ankle), as well as tailback Elijah McGuire (ankle) and wide receiver Marcus Kemp (shoulder), all left Saturday’s game early. Harris has been ruled out of Friday’s game. It doesn’t look like serious injuries for Cole, McGuire and Kemp, who were all back at practice on Monday.
Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals elected not to play starting quarterback Murray at all against Dallas last week. Chris Streveler received the bulk of the work, finishing 12-of-24 for 107 passing yards. He also rushed for a game-high 55 yards. Colt McCoy looked more comfortable throwing the ball than Streveler, albeit in a smaller sample size. McCoy finished the game 6-of-7 for 69 passing yards.
First-round draft pick, Zaven Collins, looked great at middle linebacker. Collins got started right away and took down Tony Pollard for a two-yard loss in the game’s opening drive. The rookie is expected to pair with second-year linebacker Isaiah Simmons to solidify the middle of the defence this year. There’s still no word on the severity of running back Jonathan Ward or safety Chris Banjo’s injuries after both players were forced out of the game in the second half. Ward left with an ankle injury, while Banjo had a hamstring injury.
KC
ARI