DK NFL Week 1: Cardinals vs 49ers

Not quite done yet, I lied.. got a few more i want to share.

What would a DK NFL Week be without me picking a dog?! I love myself a good underdog and I am going with one of the biggest underdogs on the card(the 4th biggest dog on the week 1 slate to be precise) and that team is the Arizona Cardinals

This game sticks out to me for a few reasons other than the obvious Super Bowl hangover for the losing Super Bowl team in week 1. Its a dreadful record to be sure and I see the 49ers joining that list.

Reason #1: the 49ers recieving unit is not at full strength. Emmanuel Sanders is gone and so goes half of their deep threat ability. Deebo Samuels, Garropolo's other important target is a 50/50 chance to play but he wont be 100%. Their new draft pick Brandon Aiyuk has potential to be a good reciever for 49ers but I dont expect him to make an immediate impact in week 1. It'll mostly be Kendrick Bourne and Dante Pettis carrying the load but thats not the issue here for the Cardinals. the main focus for the Cardinal defense will be to contain George Kittle/Jordan Reed and the 49er ground game. Cardinals defense were one of the worst teams last year in defending tight ends & running backs. 

So what did the Cardinals do? They drafted Isiaiah Simmons from Clemson, and signed free agent Devondre Campbell. Cardinals addressed their defensive weaknesses and that should help mitigate the damage from all those short/intermediate passes and YAC's that 49ers like to do on offense. Campbell will help shore up the run defense. Simmons will be manning the middle defending tight ends. They'll be put to the test early but I believe Cardinals defense will show some improvement compared to the two piss-poor performances from last season. 

Reason #2: The 49ers defense have their issues with dual-threat quarterbacks. They played Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray, Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes with a combined stat line of 130/196(66.3 % comp); 1,247 yds passing & 10 TD passes/3 INT's ; 52 rush att for 313 yds(6.01 avg) & 3 rush TDs. The 49ers went 3-3 SU, 2-3-1 ATS in those games.

Giving Kyler Murray another bonafide reciever in Deandre Hopkins just makes the Cardinals offense a bit more difficult to defend this time. Do I expect Hopkins to go lights out in his first game with his new team? Not really, but just by him being out there he still has to be respectfully accounted for on the field. Cardinals can do more of that 10 personnel, Air Raid offense they always wanted to do last year but couldnt.

Final thought: The Cardinals last season were scrappy and showed some fight, made all the more impressive with a new coach and QB leading the way. Watching them week 1 last season against the Lions was indicative of what this team is striving to become this year, a promising playoff contender with plenty of upside. They'll be in a tough spot though being in a competitively crowded NFC West but I could see them clawing out a few more wins and doing better than 6-10. I think this time they have a great shot to get that Week 1 "W"

Cardinals +7

Cardinals ML +270 *small*

Like it.

Gl bro  

thank you Kuz , Doctor. GL this season 

To lose in the Superbowl is like blowing it on Jeopardy...I like the Cardinals also...

lol, whats up Lancer ! lets get it good luck buddy  

I like it also

I follow the Niners religiously and their starting receivers will play on Sunday. As will Kittle who played a grand total of 1 quarter vs Arizona last season due to injury. Bad bet bud. Niners roll. My POW. 

Thank you for the insight. Always a pleasure. BOL to you and your Niners this season  

Game might be played at a different venue or moved to Monday? Man how screwed up 2020 has been lol

no Deebo Samuels. kind of expected it.

should be an interesting game with orange skies and all 

opposite side brother. Public hitting the cards at 69% right now... Public dogs get buried all the time.. and Niners angry from super bowl loss.

One of us will hit tho, good luck on sunday man 

Super Bowl runner up played like crap the following year. Arizona is the right play.  

They should just play this one in AZ and then play the next game between them in SF. Easy fix. 

i dont get too caught up in the public percentages like i used too. sometimes i will use it as a reason but it wont be the main reason i like a play. ive seen public dogs hit and not hit. its not 100% guaranteed winning proposition that public dog always lose but yes more times than not the public dog hits 2 out of 5 generally speaking.

for all we know if we were to go by the percentages(if they are accurate) before the season starts then that means Arizona is the sharp play. assuming usually sharps gets to the lines before the public and drives the market movement before the joes do am i correct? the general public waits on game day or days before. but anyway enough about that. best of luck my brotha 

Agree DK. I've lost quite a few because the pubic is "always wrong". I'll be on Ariz. too. Thanks for the write-up.

I don't see this game being played in SF based on what I just saw on the news

I'm with you on the Cards ... 2 teams going in opposite directions 

Best of Luck Brother