- 1 Arizona Cardinals vs Seattle Seahawks: a line that crashed from 10 to 5.5 points in a matter of days
- 2 Arizona Cardinals: a debut that made a statement
- 3 Seattle Seahawks: defending a title without Sam Darnold
- 4 NFL Prediction Arizona Cardinals vs Seattle Seahawks
- 5 First, a word on our free picks
- 6 Nothing binding from us
- 7 Information moves fast
- 8 Your role
- 9 Responsible gambling first
- 10 Legal age
- 11 About the visuals…
Arizona Cardinals vs Seattle Seahawks: a line that crashed from 10 to 5.5 points in a matter of days 
The market opened with Seattle installed as 10-point favorites in this one. That number has since drifted down to around 5.5 points.
One thing explains the move: Sam Darnold won’t play. The Seahawks quarterback picked up a glute injury on the fifth play of the 13-10 win over New England on Wednesday, September 9.
Drew Lock will step in for this road trip. The backup handled things well in relief, completing 16 of 22 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown.
Arizona Cardinals, meanwhile, landed the biggest upset of opening weekend. The Cardinals rolled to a 26-14 win at the Chargers, despite being given 9.5 points at kickoff.
The game is at State Farm Stadium on Sunday, September 20 at 4:25 p.m. ET.
BetMGM’s model makes Seattle only a 54.7% favourite. For a reigning Super Bowl champion against a team that finished in the middle of the pack last season, that edge is thin.
This one is really about two benches. Mike LaFleur won his head-coaching debut, while Seattle now has to patch things together without its starter. The expected order of things has very little to do with the reality of these two teams on Sunday.
This NFC West clash brings together two teams that were miles apart when the schedule came out. One weekend was enough to pull their paths much closer together.
State Farm Stadium hosts its first official game of the season. Arizona Cardinals are back in front of their own fans after opening on the road.
The question is simple: can Drew Lock run a full offence for 60 minutes away from home? That will decide it.
Arizona Cardinals: a debut that made a statement 
Arizona Cardinals beat the Chargers 26-14 in their opener. They did it at SoFi Stadium, on the road against a side widely tipped to be the stronger team.
Mike LaFleur picked up his first win as head coach, and it came against Jim Harbaugh. The performance mattered just as much as the result, with the Cardinals dictating terms from start to finish.
The market had Arizona Cardinals at 9.5 points on the spread, after the line opened at 10.5. They didn’t just cover. They won by 12.
The defence held Justin Herbert to 209 yards on 17 completions from 27 attempts. It bothered the Chargers enough that they added another receiver straight afterwards.
Coming home after that kind of trip changes the picture for Week 2. State Farm Stadium hadn’t seen its tenants in a competitive game since the preseason.
Hosting an opponent without its starting quarterback is about as good a chance as you’ll get to back that opening win up. Arizona Cardinals won’t find many easier spots early in this schedule.
The victory means even more because it came away from Arizona, in a stadium where the Chargers were launching their season. Winning by 12 in that setting is more than a one-off.
It also left a mark on the other side, which was forced to strengthen its receiver room within 48 hours. Los Angeles signed Marquez Valdes-Scantling to its practice squad after the defeat.
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Seattle Seahawks: defending a title without Sam Darnold 
Seattle opened the defence of their title with a 13-10 win over New England. The tight scoreline doesn’t exactly scream reigning champions.
The game came at a cost, though: Darnold went off after five plays with a glute injury. The staff has described it as a specific issue, but there’s still no timetable for a return.
Drew Lock did the job in relief, finishing 16 for 22 for 187 yards and a touchdown. Closing out a game at home and running an offence on the road are two very different asks.
The uncertainty at quarterback adds to an already messy start to the season. Seattle cut cornerback Trevon Diggs in late August, just 11 days after signing him.
Scoring 13 points against the Patriots is hardly a glowing sign on offence. The reigning champions still haven’t shown the firepower that carried them last season.
This trip to Arizona has therefore come at the worst possible time. Seattle need to win a divisional game with a backup quarterback against a team that just flipped the script in Los Angeles.
The Darnold situation has dragged on for several days. An MRI on September 10 ruled out a hip fracture, but it still didn’t give general manager John Schneider any kind of return date.
Seattle also opened its season on a Wednesday, an unusual setup that threw the whole week off. They head into Week 2 with a strange schedule already behind them.
NFL Prediction Arizona Cardinals vs Seattle Seahawks
Our pick: Arizona Cardinals to win
Seattle arrive at State Farm Stadium without Sam Darnold, after scoring just 13 points against New England. The market has already admitted how serious that is by dropping the line from 10 to 5.5.
Arizona Cardinals just won by 12 at the Chargers while giving up 9.5, with Mike LaFleur delivering a winning debut on the sideline. A defence that held Justin Herbert to 209 yards should be able to rattle Drew Lock on the road.
The reigning champion is still rated at 54.7% by the models. In other words, it’s basically a coin flip. The Cardinals should get it done in front of their own fans.
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