Arizona Cardinals 2024 Predictions and Odds:

Jonathon Gannon’s first season in the desert was not a pretty one, leading the team to a 4-13 record, but it is hard not to call it a success. The Cardinals started the year without quarterback Kyler Murray and had little on the defensive side of the ball while facing a difficult schedule. The team consistently played hard and added talent this offseason setting themselves up well in the near term.

Offense

The 2023 season for the offense was divided into two halves, with and without starter Kyler Murray. Once he returned, the Cardinals went 3-5, with three losses to playoff teams and a fourth to a Seahawks team with a winning record. The emergence of Trey McBride at tight end and Paris Johnson Jr. at left tackle helped bolster an offensive that looked fairly bland.

 

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Fast forward to the offseason, including the additions of Marvin Harrison Jr. via the draft and Zay Jones via free agency, along with James Conner in the backfield and rookie Trey Benson backing him up. Now you have multiple playmakers at Murray’s disposal.

This will not be a top-10 offense overnight, but they should be much better than last year’s bottom-10 offense. The Cardinals ranked fourth in rushing yards per game last year and now have a legitimate passing attack to go with it.

Defense

And then there is the defense. There is no way to sugarcoat how bad this defense was last year, allowing the second-most points in the NFL. While they were mid-pack in passing yards allowed, the Cardinals were the worst team in football against the run and did little in the offseason to address that glaring hole.

Arizona did add veteran CB Sean Murphy-Bunting in free agency as well as Max Melton in the draft to bolster the secondary. They upgraded their edge rushing in the draft as well with first-round pick Darius Robinson, but there is still an overall lack of talent on this side of the ball to expect Arizona to win any defensive battles.

For this defense to take a step forward, interior adds Justin Jones and Bilal Nichols will have to plug the middle and younger players like Garrett Williams and BJ Ojulari will have to make leaps early in their careers.

Outlook

Arizona has one of the lowest win totals on the board sitting at just 6.5 wins, but it’s been aggressively bet out to -150 on the Over. While the defense still stinks, the offense now has enough pieces to win games. I like the Under before the season, but I will bet them over in-season in Week 7. They should start 0-3 with matchups versus Buffalo, the Rams, and Detroit before taking on San Francisco and Green Bay in Week 5 and 6. After that, the schedule gets much easier, and the Cardinals should be able to rack up wins.

Arizona Cardinals Pick: Under 6.5 wins preseason, In-season Over after Week 6

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