Texans vs. Cardinals Free NFL Picks for Week 7 (Archive)
The point spread in this nonconference clash is not the biggest we have ever seen for an NFL contest, but it is the largest this season. That is the beauty of the spread, it evens out a real mismatch.
With their 6-0 mark, Arizona, at least by the record, is the best team in the NFL. The Cardinals bandwagon is growing quickly by both the national media and football bettors. This matchup against Houston does not appear to be in doubt, given the NFL odds, thus, we get a look at the Cards’ options when all they need to do is win.
Houston is 1-5 and has lost five in a row. That is a surprise to absolutely nobody, as this team is tanking much in the manner the Astros did about this time a decade ago. The opening line betting odds at most sportsbooks like Heritage Sports (Heritage Sports Review) was 14.5 and it has exploded like Billie Eilish’s fame, now up to 18.5. This gets interesting from here.
Houston Texans vs. Arizona Cardinals
Sunday, October 24, 2021 – 4:25 PM EDT at State Farm Stadium
Nothing Big About These Texans
After a couple of playoff appearances in 2018-19, the Houston Texans were 4-12 last season. That marked the high-water mark of the franchise since. Former head coach Bill O’Brien turned out to be way over his head as GM and many in southwest Texas are calling the trade of DeAndre Hopkins (to Arizona) the worst in franchise history, with others thinking it might be a Top 10 all-time bad move.
With Deshaun Watson in limbo and not playing, now the Texans want a treasure trove after basically giving Hopkins away. While some say statistics occasionally lie, they don’t when it comes to Houston. Here are key Texans offensive numbers in the league: Scoring- 31st / Rushing -26th / Passing – 29th / Total Offense -29th / Yards Per Play – 28th
Everything is very modestly better on the offensive side of the ball, but not by much. Since their opening game victory over Jacksonville, Houston has been outscored by 19.2 points a game.
Arizona Looks to Focus on Sunday
With such a start and with three imposing road blowouts of the Rams, Titans, and Browns, it would be easy for these Cardinals to be a little self-satisfied this week, especially with Green Bay coming to town on a short week (Thursday, Oct. 28).
Coach Kliff Kingsbury doesn’t want to hear about accolades, he wants to win and show improvement each week. It appears Kingsbury and GM Steve Keim have a good relationship and this roster has been built with the right players to succeed on offense and they have drafted smartly, along with signing good free agents to make any defensive coordinator pleased.
Arizona is 4th in the NFL in scoring and 2nd in points surrendered and by signing TE Zach Ertz, that is signaling they will get QB Kyler Murray whatever he needs and wants to take a serious run at a Super Bowl. Kingsbury, though Covid restricted, will send a message through his coaches about giving the kind of effort needed to handle an inferior opponent.
And The Winner Is…
It goes against our very nature for NFL picks to take a favorite and hand out this many points, even though with how bad the Texans are, they could easily lose by 20 or more points. At the same time, the total could be affected either way by Houston turnovers if you had the Over or the Under.
That’s why we feel the best way to go is the first half-line of -10. With Green Bay in a few days, if the Redbirds come out flying, they could build a sustainable working margin and coast to a 14 to 17 point victory. It doesn’t take much imagination to see the Cardinals jumping to a 21-3 or 24-6 lead against this Houston crew. With the Texans 0-6 against the first half-line after allowing 25 points or more in three straight games, we’ll go that direction.
NFL Pick: Arizona -10 1st Half (-110) with Heritage Sports (Heritage Sports Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.