Kyler Murray, Cardinals Can Ride Week 1 Momentum

• The Minnesota Vikings will be looking for their first win of the season this weekend against Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals.

• The Vikings are currently +3.5 (-110) underdogs to the Cardinals on the road. They are +160 moneyline dogs, while taking the Cards will cost you -190. All numbers courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook when this article was written.

• The two teams come in on opposite sides of the spectrum. The Vikings lost and failed to cover as favorites against the Cincinnati Bengals last week in their 27-24 OT loss. The Cardinals picked up the win in dominating fashion against the Tennessee Titans 38-13, a game in which they closed as underdogs on the road.

Vikings Need To Fix Problems Quickly

The Vikings lost an overtime contest 27-24 to the Cincinnati Bengals this past weekend, a game in which they were favored. I'll give Minnesota some semblance of credit, as they were able to overcome a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force OT. They will need every bit of that resilience this week against Arizona. They will need to figure out some things if they want to defeat the Cards.

First off, the defense needs to get its act together. They were horrible last year, and it appears they haven't strayed far from that path. They gave up 400 yards of offense to the Bengals, and it really appeared that they missed linebacker Anthony Barr in the worst way, as he continues to rehab from a knee injury. The ground game was also a concern, as star running back Dalvin Cook only managed 61 yards on 20 carries, while also losing a fumble.

This doesn't bode well for them, as the Bengals were a bottom five run defense last season. Arizona just completely shut down Derrick Henry, so Minnesota will need to step up their game.

Cardinals Show Out In Week 1

The question coming into Week 1 for the Cards was if they would be the dynamic offense of the first half of 2020, or the stinker we saw in the second half. It seems as if that question has been answered for now after a completely dominant performance on the road at Tennessee. Kyler Murray threw for 289 yards and accounted for five TDs, including one rushing TD.

The Arizona defense was the real star of the show though, forcing three turnovers and limiting bruising RB Derrick Henry to only 58 yards on the ground. Also, there was a man named Chandler Jones on the field, who had a pretty good game with FIVE sacks. Easily the early candidate for DPOY, where he was +6600 before the season began.

Can the Cards keep up this play in Week 2?

Prediction

The Vikings will simply need to be better on defense. They cannot continue to allow these massive yards and points and expect to win games, and it will be on head coach Mike Zimmer to fix that. We also have to see if Kliff Kingsbury, who I think is a terrible coach, will be able to keep the Cards consistent.

Make sure to subscribe to BetQL for all of our data and best bets for this game and much more!