2021 Arizona Cardinals Betting Preview: Odds, Lines, & Predictions

The Arizona Cardinals come into the season with their highest expectations in years. Arizona has all you want in a football team. They have the star quarterback in Kyler Murray, who packs a punch with his running and passing ability, given his tiny frame.

They have star-wide receivers like DeAndre Hopkins, Christian Kirk, newly added A.J. Green, and rookie Rondale Moore who are all going to keep secondary players on their toes all season.

Running backs Chase Edmonds and new guy James Connor might not instill the fear of God into their opponents, but they are both good enough to bruise a defense worried about the pass. The Cardinals defense is also much improved as J.J. Watt and rookie Zaven Collins look to add valuable pass rushing and run defense to a team with Chandler Jones, Buddha Baker, Isaiah Simmons, Byron Murphy, and Malcolm Butler.

This Arizona team is deep and talented, and they would win any other division that isn’t the loaded NFC West with ease.

2020 Arizona Cardinals Team Stats

• Points For: 423
• Points Against: 381
• Passing Yards Per Game: 244.8
• Rushing Yards Per Game: 139.8
• Passing Yards Allowed Per Game: 226.4
• Rushing Yards Allowed Per Game: 125.5

Key Offseason Transactions

Arizona went all in this offseason to keep up with the big moves other teams in their division made. The Cardinals needed some defensive help, especially in their pass rush, so they signed the great J.J. Watt and drafted stud linebacker, Zaven Collins, to add some power to their front seven.

They also have Malcolm Butler and Robert Alford to make up for the departure of franchise great Patrick Peterson. On offense, the Cardinals definitely got better this offseason by signing stud wide receiver A.J. Green to add more explosive firepower to an already stacked wide receiver core and running back James Conner to offset the loss of Kenyan Drake this offseason.

We don’t know if the best player in franchise history, Larry Fitzgerald, is returning for his 17th season with the team, but Arizona’s kicking game got better as they signed Matt Prater, who will help them out in the many close games they will be playing in this season.

2020 Arizona Cardinals Betting Stats

• Record: 8-8
• MOV: 2.7
• ATS: 7-9
• ATS +/-: +0.8
• Over/Under: 5-11
• Total +/-: +42

2021 Arizona Cardinals Betting Preview

People that bet on the Cardinals should prepare for a bumpy ride. Their division is very tough as the Rams, Seahawks, and 49ers are all playoff teams, and the Cardinals also have to play difficult teams like the Vikings, Packers, Titans, and the Colts.

Arizona can cover the spread against all of these teams because of their high-level talent, but I don’t think they will do it consistently. Arizona was weird last year where they looked like the best team in the league some weeks and looked like a very bad team other weeks.

Arizona tended to play up or down to their talent level, so be aware of that when betting on them. Also, the Cardinals hit the under in 12 out of 17 games last season, which contradicts what people think when they think of the Cardinals air raid juggernaut offense.

Expect these trends to be similar in 2021 despite all of the changes in their team.

Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl Odds

Right now, the Cardinals have odds of winning Super Bowl LVI. These are the 18th best odds in the league, which is not good for a Cardinals fan. All of the Cardinals’ other division mates are ranked higher than them, and teams that are not as talented but in better division situations like the Patriots and Cowboys are also ranked higher than them.

The Cardinals are the most talented darkhorse playoff team in the league, and the real struggle will be whether they can win enough games in their very strong division to keep pace for a wild card spot.

It’s a shame the Cardinals play in the hardest division in football because if they played in any other division, then they would have way better odds to win the Super Bowl.

Arizona Cardinals Playoff Odds

The Cardinals have a tough road to the playoffs, and the odds reflect that. Arizona’s odds that they make the playoffs are set at , while their odds if they miss the playoffs are -220. Their odds to win the division is , which is the worst in their division.

Playing a playoff game every week as the Cardinals have in their upcoming schedule certainly isn’t easy as they will most likely need to win over 11 games if they want a realistic chance of getting into the playoffs.

The margin for error for the Cardinals is very slim this season, and they will need to bring their A-game every week because their hopes of reaching the playoffs can disappear in the blink of an eye if they make the slightest mistake.

Arizona Cardinals Win Total Odds

The line for the Cardinals wins total is set at 8. The over on 8 wins has odds while the under has +110 odds. This seems both fair and unfair for a team with so much talent on their roster. It’s fair because their division is the best in football as every team is capable of winning over 11 games or completely falling on their face.

It’s unfair because a team as talented as the Cardinals should not be kept out of the playoffs because they don’t play in subpar divisions like the NFC East.

While Arizona does get some easier opponents like the Jaguars, Lions, Texans, and Panthers, that might not be enough to counteract the fact that they also have to play the Rams, Seahawks, and 49ers twice and the Packers, Cowboys, Titans, Vikings, Browns, Bears, and Colts.

I’m not saying you should, but the under 8 wins bet looks very tempting.

Arizona Cardinals Player Futures Odds

The big story coming out of Arizona this season is if Kyler Murray will assert himself as the MVP quarterback many people believe him to be. Murray has the fourth-highest odds to win the MVP before the season begins at behind other young superstar quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, as well as the grizzled veteran Aaron Rodgers.

The Cardinals have no real candidates for the DPOY award, and the only realistic shot a Cardinals player has at the OROY award is WR Rondale Moore, who has a very distant shot at odds. A Cardinals player has a really good chance to win the DROY, and his name is Zaven Collins.

He is very talented at the linebacker position, and he currently has great value at odds to win.