Cardinals vs. 49ers NFL Week 1 Prediction
The defending NFC champion 49ers are laying over a touchdown as a home favorite versus the Cardinals in Week 1 but is San Francisco a wise play for bettors? Kickoff for this Week 1 matchup is set for 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Game Snapshot
473 Arizona Cardinals (+7) at 474 San Francisco 49ers (-7); o/u 47.5
4:25 p.m. ET, Sunday, September 13, 2020
NFL Week 1 Regular-Season
Arizona Cardinals DFS Spin
Kyler Murray “bulked up” over the offseason. “He’s definitely bulked up and that’ll be good for him, especially in this league,” was teammate Chandler Jones’ exact quote. “There is no quarterback that goes through games without being sacked. That’s just the way it goes. When he has a little more meat on his bones, he can take hits.” Murray, of course, took a league-worse 48 sacks as a rookie. Murray said he did not consciously try to get bigger this offseason. “I just think it’s the maturation of getting older, working out. It just happened.” Murray did not attach a number to his gain. Coach Kliff Kingsbury has raved about Murray’s second-year comfort in his system. Murray offers massive upside at his ADP, which is currently in the QB6-8 range.
San Francisco 49ers DFS Spin
Speaking Tuesday, Jimmy Garoppolo admitted his knee feels “night-and-day” better than it did in 2019. “It’s able to whatever it needs to do at this point,” Garoppolo said. Jimmy G’s return from a torn ACL was somewhat under-discussed as he turned in a solid, if inconsistent, 2019. It’s not uncommon for a quarterback’s first year back from a knee injury to be uneven, a la Tom Brady in 2009. Beyond his knee, Garoppolo’s biggest 2020 concern is his talented but unsettled receiver corps.
Cardinals vs. 49ers Betting Prediction
The Cardinals are seemingly everyone’s sleeper pick this season and while they should be improved, let’s not go overboard. DeAndre Hopkins gives them a dynamic option in the passing game and Kyler Murray showed flashes as a rookie a season ago. That said, Arizona’s defense remains a question mark and so does the unit tasked to protect Murray. The 49ers, meanwhile, return a nasty pass rush, a dominant running game and a quarterback in Garoppolo that should be motivated to once again silence detractors. It’s not the most popular play on Sunday, but I’m willing to lay the points with the Niners.
NFL WEEK 1 BETTING PREDICTION: SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS -7