New Orleans Saints vs. Arizona Cardinals Thursday Night Football Betting Preview

Week 7 of the 2022 NFL season will open up in Arizona, as the New Orleans Saints head to Glendale to take on the Arizona Cardinals. Both teams enter this game coming off of losses, with both teams entering this contest at 2-4 on the season. 

Arizona enters this matchup as a 2.5-point favorite, as they look to grab their first home win of the season while the Saints will aim to prevent them from getting it.

New Orleans Saints

Last week, the New Orleans Saints had a great chance to beat the Cincinnati Bengals at home, but could not hold on at the end of the game. They gave up a 60-yard touchdown to Ja’Marr Chase in the final minutes of the game, and their late drive to try and win the game fell short. 

This week, the Saints will hope that their defense can overcome a newly improved receiving corps en route to a key win away from home.

Arizona will have DeAndre Hopkins back from suspension for this game, in addition to Robbie Anderson, who they acquired in a trade with the Carolina Panthers. That could drastically change the quality of offense that the Saints have to defend in this contest. 

If they cannot generate pressure on Kyler Murray, the Saints could see those two get open on a regular basis in this contest.

Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals were shut down offensively in Seattle last week, failing to score 10 points against the Seahawks. Kyler Murray really struggled throughout that game, throwing for just 222 yards in the losing effort. 

But, the return of Hopkins and the acquisition of Anderson could help the struggling young quarterback turn things around starting with Thursday night.

For the Cardinals, the ability of Murray to break the pocket and improvise should come in handy with these two receivers getting into the mix. 

The more time Murray can buy, the more time that Hopkins and Anderson have to get open down the field. It will be interesting to see what the rapport looks like between Murray and that receiver pairing tonight, though, as it could take some time to develop chemistry, especially with Anderson.

Keys To The Game

The biggest key to this game for the Saints is their running game. Being able to keep the ball away from Kyler Murray and his freshly restocked arsenal of offensive weapons would be huge. 

Alvin Kamara has been playing exceptionally well of late, but he will need to be even better than usual if the Saints are going to come away with this contest.

For the Cardinals, the biggest key to this game is going to be the mentality of Kyler Murray against the Saints. 

With some talented receivers coming aboard, it could be easy for him to try and force the ball to them early and often. But, if he makes bad decisions in trying to do so, he could hand the Saints the lifeline they need to win this game outright in Arizona.