Saints @ Cardinals NFL Thursday best bets & top odds – Week 7

We are officially in the meat of this 2022 NFL season and Week 7 will kick off on Thursday night with the 2-4 Arizona Cardinals hosting the 2-4 New Orleans Saints. While this isn’t the best game on the schedule, both of these teams are still in the playoff race. Each team is dealing with injuries and this has the potential to be an ugly game, but the fast track at State Farm Stadium could help provide some excitement. Here are our free NFL betting picks for Week 7’s opener.

Saints @ Cardinals spread pick: New Orleans +1.5

The Arizona Cardinals cannot catch a break. Right when the Cards were expected to add wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins back from his six-game suspension, their other elite receiver, Hollywood Brown, went down with an injury that will keep him out for the foreseeable future. This is another setback that will further slow down an already struggling offense. As a result, the Saints defense should be able to bottle up Kyler and the Cardinals in this Thursday night affair.


Also, the Cardinals defense cannot be trusted. They have a bottom-10 defense, and while we don’t know who the Saints’ starting quarterback will be for this game, whoever it is should have an easy time. The Saints have enough weapons in Alvin Kamara and Chris Olave to take advantage of a bad Cardinals defense and move the ball with relative ease. This may be a gross game, but the Saints should prevail in a battle of two injured squads.

Saints @ Cardinals points total pick: Under 45

Both of these teams possess pretty bad defenses, but that will not dissuade us from the under. Because of all the aforementioned injuries, this will be a low-scoring game, and considering it is on Thursday, players will have even less time than normal to heal up from last week. Beyond that, the under is 5-1 this year on Thursday Night Football and teams just don’t seem ready to play in the opening slot. All of these trends will work in the under’s favor.

Cardinals touchdown scorer pick: DeAndre Hopkins

DeAndre Hopkins has served his six-game suspension and will be back this week. It couldn’t come at a better time as the Cardinals’ other top receiver, Hollywood Brown, hurt his leg and will be out for an extended period of time. While Hopkins is aging and showed signs of decline last year, we expect him to be fresh for this game. He will be one of the few players that is truly healthy and unaffected by the short rest. Hopkins should be heavily targeted out of necessity in this game and he possesses great touchdown upside. At +120 with Bovada, this is a solid bet on one of the best receivers in the league.

Saints touchdown scorer pick: Alvin Kamara

Alvin Kamara is the do-it-all running back for the New Orleans Saints and he is one of the elite talents in the league. He is having a weird season, however, as he looks great but is yet to score a touchdown. He has had two straight games of over 25 touches and it is quite remarkable he hasn’t found the endzone. We expect that to change in this game. The Cardinals’ rush defense isn’t very good, and even if he can’t rush one in, Kamara can do it through the air. While -105 is a little short, it’s not short enough for us to stay away.

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