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The Arizona Cardinals and Denver Broncos close out their preseasons with a quartet of backup quarterbacks expected to stand under center, and the lack of quality starters has us looking at the first-half total.
With Bo Nix, among the Offensive Rookie of the Year odds front-runners, earning the starting quarterback job for the Broncos and Kyler Murray continuing to sit out the preseason for the Cardinals, our Cardinals vs. Broncos prediction profiles a showdown between signal-callers hoping to earn the illustrious QB2 role.
On one side, we have Jarrett Stidham in his second year with Denver and Zach Wilson, who was ran out of New York after last season's debacle.
It doesn't get much better for Arizona, which is likely to start the contest with 2023 fifth-rounder Clayton Tune before turning to offseason addition Desmond Ridder.
The total for this g ame is set at 33.5 or 34 at our best sports betting sites, with the Broncos serving as 3-point home favorites when Sunday's action gets underway at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Cardinals vs. Broncos prediction
Odds via our best NFL betting sites; NFL picks confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton said on Friday that the plan against the Cardinals is to use Stidham for only eight to 12 plays before turning to Wilson. That's music to the ears of Under bettors everywhere.
Wilson had exactly two good performances across 11 starts last year, finishing the campaign with just 6.2 yards per attempt – tied with Tommy “Don't Call it a Linsanity Run” DeVito.
Stidham, meanwhile, isn't a prolific quarterback by any means. However, he did manage 7.5 yards per attempt in three starts, and his 87.7 passer rating was sig nificantly better than Wilson's 77.2.
Therefore, we're pleased Wilson will get the bulk of the work.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals reportedly plan to go with Tune in the first half and Ridder in the second. While Ridder is a terrible quarterback, surely he's still marginally better than Tune.
Tune started only one game last year.
He completed 11 of 20 passes for 58 yards and took seven sacks (for a whopping -1.6 adjusted yards gained per pass attempt). The Cardinals failed to score a point in that contest.
In fairness to Tune, he's performed admirably during this preseason, but I still don't buy him as a quality NFL quarterback.
Ridder was at least competent enough to not throw the Falcons completely out of games last year, and he managed five rushing TDs in addition to 12 passing scores.
To be frank, though, all four of these QBs stink and it likely doesn't matter who plays when.
We can survive two touchdowns and a field goal in the first half and hit this Under, with a winning $10 wager resulting in $8.33 in profit.
Best odds: -120 via DraftKings | Implied probability: 54.55%
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Cardinals vs. Broncos odds
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Cardinals vs. Broncos game info
- When: Sunday, Aug. 25
- Kick off: 4:30 p.m. ET
- Where: Empower Field at Mile High, Denver
- How to watch: CBS, NFL+
- Favorite: Broncos (-170 via bet365)
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