Arizona Cardinals vs Las Vegas Raiders Point Spread Picks

Jacoby Brissett makes his first start under a new staff tonight, and Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur has already capped him at one drive, maybe two, before Gardner Minshew and rookie Carson Beck take over. That's good news for Arizona. Beck was the story of last week's Hall of Fame Game, going 15-of-19 for 188 yards and a touchdown before getting pulled, and Minshew is a proven vet who knows how to protect a lead. Kirk Cousins starts across the field under new coach Klint Kubiak, who's committed to playing his starters without setting a hard limit. Once Cousins sits, though, Las Vegas turns it over to rookie Fernando Mendoza, still raw in his first real NFL reps, with journeyman Aidan O'Connell behind him. Arizona's backup room is simply more equipped to hold this game than Las Vegas's is, and that's the group doing most of the playing. Take the Cardinals on the moneyline tonight.

GAME OF THE MONTH - Arizona was dominated by Kansas City on Sunday, but the Cardinals still are less than a touchdown underdog this week due to the performance by the Raiders while losing 24-19 to the Chargers. Derek Carr threw three interceptions and coach Josh McDaniels still can't figure out who to play on the offensive line as he continued to shuffle players in and out. Justin Herbert clearly outplayed Carr completing 26 of 34 for 279 yards and no picks. The game stayed UNDER by 10 points and the Raiders are 5-1 UNDER dating to last season. Kyle Murray did throw for 193 yards with two TDs against the Chiefs, but the Cardinal defense had no answer for Pat Mahomes, who threw five TD passes. Arizona is 18-7-2 ATS its past 27 road games and 17-6-3 ATS as road underdogs. The Cardinals are 13-4 UNDER their past 17 September games and 12-5 UNDER after a double-digit home loss. Las Vegas is 5-2 UNDER its past seven as a home favorite and the Raiders are 20-45-1 ATS their past 66 games as favorites overall. Take the Cardinals ATS as the Game of the Month Max Play, and take the UNDER.

Kyler Murray had a successful start to his career although it was a short stint. The rookie completed 6-of-7 passes for 44 yards. Brett Hundley, surprisingly, turned in a good performance in finishing 10-of-14 for 104 yards and a touchdown in Arizona's 17-13 win over the Chargers. Oakland defeated the Rams 14-3 even though Derek Carr did not play and Mike Glennon completed 17-of-25 for 200 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions and Nathan Peterman finished 9-of-12 for 66 yards and a touchdown. The Rams were held to only 190 total yards and 3.7 yards per play. The game went UNDER by 18 points and the Cardinals stayed UNDER by six points against the Chargers.  Jon Gruden is 28-23 UNDER in his preseason career and the Raiders went UNDER in three of four last year. Coach Jon Gruden says more starters, including Carr, will play this week, as he needs to get acclimated to his new-look offense. Gruden is 34-17 straight-up and 29-20-2 ATS in preseason. Play the Raiders and the UNDER.

This may be more about draft position than winning as the Arizona Cardinals have managed two wins vs. San Francisco but are 0-7 otherwise. Oakland managed a win vs. Cleveland but is 0-8 otherwise. The Raiders have Baltimore, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati after this one, so it may be their last chance for a win in a while. A lot of growing pains for Josh Rosen as he has a woeful 67.8 passer rating and has more INTs than TDs. Derek Carr has a passer rating at 93.2 and certainly gives the Raiders a lot more chances than Rozen at this point of his career. The contrarian NFL provides this: Play on any team that scored nine points or fewer in at least their last two games. That is 39-13 ATS in the last 52 occurrences. Play on Oakland.