Week 7 TNF pick: Saints-Cardinals in a battle of underwhelming teams
Kyler Murray #1 of the Arizona Cardinals of the Arizona Cardinals warms up before the game against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on October 16, 2022 in Seattle, Washington. Credit: Getty Images/Tom Hauck
NEW ORLEANS (2-4) AT ARIZONA (2-4)
TV: Amazon Prime, 8:15 p.m.
Arizona by 2.5; O/U: 43.5
The real winners of Thursday Night Football are the fans who didn’t buy an Amazon subscription. After 12-9 and 12-7 clunkers the last two weeks, we get a battle of underachieving, hard-to-figure-out 2-4 teams desperate to avoid a fifth loss. I’ve had no luck picking either of these teams’ games, as my record against the spread is 2-4 in Saints games and 1-5 in Cardinals games. But we pick every game, every week, so here goes nothing.
The Cardinals are a mess on offense, and last week scored only nine points against a Seahawks defense that had allowed 27 or more points in all four of its previous games. Kyler Murray looks off, and while he is getting back top receiver DeAndre Hopkins from a suspension, how much can you really expect from him under these circumstances? Bottom line: I don’t trust Kliff Kingsbury on a short week. The Cardinals’ coach has been underwhelming in big spots (remember last year’s no-show playoff loss against the Rams?) and for whatever reason, his team has lost eight straight at home. This is the same team that started 7-0 overall last year, only to go 6-11 since.
For the Saints, they’ve been dealing with injuries on offense, especially at receiver. Andy Dalton is expected to start again, and even though the quarterback has struggled in prime time (6-18 for his career), the Saints offense has been steady: 25, 39 and 26 points the last three weeks. Taysom Hill, the Saints’ secret weapon, could be the X-factor as he was in the 39-32 win over Seattle two weeks ago.
If you signed up for Amazon Prime, there is a solid TNF game in Week 8: Baltimore at Tampa Bay. If you only put this week’s game on during Yankees-Astros Game 2 commercials, we don’t blame you.
The pick: New Orleans
Staff picks
Tom Rock: Arizona
Al Iannazzone: Arizona
Joe Manniello, an editor on the sports copy desk, has written the NFL picks column since 2015. Manniello joined Newsday in 2004. He graduated from St. John's.
