Saints vs. Cardinals Odds
| Saints Odds | +2.5 |
| Cardinals Odds | -2.5 |
| Moneyline | +120 / -140 |
| Over/Under | 44 |
| Odds via DraftKings. | |
Saints vs. Cardinals Picks
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Brandon Anderson: Hope you like watching Thursday night backups.
The Saints are missing WRs Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry, and maybe still rookie Chris Olave. They're also short CB Marshon Lattimore and probably Jameis Winston still. The Cardinals lost Marquise Brown for the season the same week they got DeAndre Hopkins back, and James Conner is a doubt too.
But the most important injuries this game might be the guys no one's talking about. Arizona is missing two interior linemen, and its OL depth is compromised too. This pitiful offense managed just three points against a bad Seattle D, and the Saints have a terrific defensive front.
Kliff Kingsbury is 8-15 against the spread (35%) as a favorite, including 1-7 ATS and 2-6 straight-up as a favorite of three or less. There's really no good reason the Cards should be favored here, and if Kingsbury's offense sputters again before a mini-bye week, he could be in for a real job security Kliffhanger.
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Billy Ward: Both the Cardinals and the Saints have played considerably slower in the first halves of games than the second this year, with the Cardinals split around one second and the Saints closer to three.
Some of that is because at 2-4, both teams have spent much of the second halves of games playing from behind. However, both teams want to play fairly conservatively as long as possible. For the Saints that involves running the ball, and for the Cardinals that means short area passing that’s effectively an extension of the run game.
Both defenses are much tougher against the run than the pass, so we’re likely to see a lot of stalled drives early on as both teams try to “establish it.” Coupled with all of the offensive injuries to both teams — especially on the offensive lines — and we have a recipe for a low scoring first half.
The best line is under 21.5 at either FanDuel or BetMGM, which is as low as I’d take it. I want the extra half point in case of a three-touchdown first half.
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Charlie DiSturco: Rondale Moore is a breakout waiting to happen.
DeAndre Hopkins’ debut is the talk of the town entering Thursday, but Moore is the clear WR2 in this Arizona offense after Marquise "Hollywood" Brown’s injury and has a great opportunity against a Saints defense that ranks No. 19 in pass coverage, per Pro Football Focus.
Moore is an explosive receiver that has broken 25+ yard receptions in back-to-back games. He has 104 yards after catch in that span and was even targeted 10 times against Seattle last week.
Since returning from injury, Moore has missed just six offensive snaps, has a 94% route participation and generates enough targets — 7.7 per game — to break the 50-yard mark for the third straight week.
Moore has flown under the radar the last few weeks and now faces an injury-riddled Saints defense without Marshon Lattimore and possibly Paulson Adebo.
The attention will be on Hopkins, who should steal some targets from Moore. But with newly acquired Robbie Anderson not expected to play much, Moore should still play a large role in this offense.
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Sam Farley: Ahead of Thursday Night Football all the talk has been of three Arizona Cardinals receivers: Hopkins, Brown and Anderson. All three are super talented, but we're overlooking Moore.
Brown is hurt, Anderson is unlikely to play a significant role tonight, and then there's Hopkins, who was a stud, but the key word is was. This will be his first game of the season, and he only played 10 games last year. Hopkins will see targets but I don't think it's a guarantee he instantly forms a great connection with Kyler Murray.
Moore missed the first three games of the season but since then he has 23 targets in just three games, including 10 last week in Seattle.
Moore is yet to find the end zone, but I consider the +290 available for an anytime TD great value considering what I consider to be overestimated expectations for his fellow receivers.
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Nick Bretwisch: With DeAndre Hopkins returning to the receiving corps, we'd expect a bit of a dip in Zach Ertz's production. We get a bit of unfortunate luck, though, with Brown's injury.
Yes, I do project Hopkins to walk into a strong target share off the bat, but Ertz is the clear number-two option in this passing attack.
Despite a low expected pace to this game, Ertz has met or surpassed the 45 yard mark in all but one game this season. Kyler Murray's tendencies against man coverage and Cover 2 (what New Orleans will play) has been solely to the X wide receiver and tight end.
I have Ertz projected for 53 receiving yards in what will likely be a sluggish game flow. I'll take an eight yard cushion all day when looking for an edge on a primetime game.
Saints +2.5 | Cardinals -2.5
