Cards (

23) at
Raiders (

28.5)

Game Overview ::

By mike johnson >>

• Arizona looks like they could be a bottom-tier team this year, with an aging roster and lack of creativity from the coaching staff.
• Las Vegas lost a tough Week 1 game to a very good Chargers team but showed some signs of promise.
• The Cardinals defensive scheme leaves them susceptible to the weapons of the Raiders.
• The Cardinals are likely to face an uphill battle of game script for the second consecutive week.

How Arizona Will Try To Win ::

Arizona looked like a lost team in their season opening 44-21 decimation at the hands of the Chiefs that was somehow not even as close as the score would indicate. The defense showed no resistance to the Chiefs, and the offense averaged only 3.5 yards per play through nearly three quarters when the Chiefs started pulling defensive starters and played more conservatively on defense with a 37-7 lead. For reference, the Bears talent deficient offense averaged 3.6 yards per carry (which was last in the league for Week 1) in a monsoon against a very good 49ers defense. 

Kliff Kingsbury doesn’t appear to do much to change the “how they will try to win” situation for the Cardinals from week to week. Shotgun formations, spread offense, horizontal passing attack, quick tempo, and no-huddle. It looks the same every week, regardless of who they are playing. The scheme is built upon reliance on the Cardinals players making plays and beating their opponents, while their personnel really isn’t capable of winning in many areas of the field. When things break down, or the short, scripted plays don’t work, it often turns into a situation where Kyler Murray has to keep plays alive with his legs and hope something opens up. It really does make sense why Kyler was so apprehensive about being tied to this team and coach long-term, although $230 million will help you get over a lot of those concerns.

The Raiders defense played a solid game against a very good Chargers offense in Week 1 and will be a challenge for the Cardinals. There are no glaring weaknesses for Las Vegas that we should expect the Cardinals to change their approach to attack, especially given Kingsbury’s “I know better” attitude. The outcome of this game and how things play out is much more likely to be dictated by the Raiders than by the Cardinals.

How las vegas Will Try To Win ::

JM >>

• I felt the heat radiating off my computer screen reading that writeup
• Davante Adams has been central to 90% of my practice builds so far this week, and I’ve messed around with plenty of Waller and Carr as well
• It would be just like DFS for me to be too early to the Josh Jacobs party last week at practically zero-percent ownership, only for him to hit this week away from my roster; he’s in the mix for me, and he actually works on a “capture all the touchdowns” roster with Carr and a pass catcher as well; but there are better on-paper plays
• Greg Dortch not only led Arizona in targets last week but also led all Arizona skill position players in snaps
  • While targets can be fluky, that type of snap rate tells us the Cardinals have him embedded in their plan
  • With Rondale Moore likely to miss, Dortch is in play as salary relief that should see higher pass play rates and softer coverage as this game moves along if Davante Adams or Darren Waller are hitting for a monster game (i.e., you can complete your bet on Adams or Waller by adding Dortch — while effectively lowering your average entry price to the Davante or Waller bet along the way)
• That’s really it for me in this game…which speaks to the beauty of the concentrated offense the Raiders are giving us, while also continuing my trend over the last three seasons of “generally always avoiding the Cardinals themselves,” in spite of being very happy to play opposing players against their pace-up team