Chiefs vs Cardinals Preseason Picks and Predictions: Starters Give KC a Clear Edge

The Kansas City Chiefs managed to turn in arguably the best game of preseason Week 1 as they fell 26-24 to the New Orleans Saints on a last-second field goal from rookie kicker Blake Grupe.

This week, the Chiefs will try to rebound against an Arizona Cardinals team that beat the Denver Broncos 18-17 in new head coach Jonathan Gannon’s debut, thanks to a touchdown and a two-point conversion with under 10 seconds to go.

While the Cardinals remain without Kyler Murray at the helm, Andy Reid plans to play his starters, including Patrick Mahomes, for the entire first half… which gives the defending Super Bowl winners the clear edge.

Find out where my best bets lie in our NFL picks and predictions for Chiefs vs. Cardinals on Saturday, August 19.

Chiefs vs Cardinals odds

Chiefs vs Cardinals predictions

Looking to repeat as champions, the Chiefs are planning to use the second preseason game as an opportunity to tune up for the regular season and build chemistry ahead of their Sepember. 7 opener against the Detroit Lions.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Reid, long known for running one of the NFL’s most grueling training camps, takes the preseason seriously.

There are still a couple of unknowns with the Chiefs offense, so having Patrick Mahomes out there throwing to a young group of wide receivers can only help the two-time MVP build rapport with his pass catchers; which provides a great opportunity to feel good about Kansas City being 7.5-point favorites.

The enigma that is Kadarius Toney is still recovering from an injury suffered during training camp, meaning last year’s free agent addition Marquez Valdes-Scantling and second-year second-round pick Skyy Moore will be the top two wide receivers on the field.

The field-stretching ability of Valdes-Scantling will always be looming with a quarterback like Mahomes, but it’s Moore who should be providing some juice for the offense. 

The Western Michigan product is coming off an up-and-down rookie season, however, his combination of sudden route running and YAC ability could set him up to be the go-to wide receiver in this offense.

Of course, with Travis Kelce creating all kinds of mismatches down the seam, Mahomes should have no trouble leading scoring drives.

It also doesn’t hurt that the Chiefs have some interesting depth at receiver in the explosive Richie James, second-round rookie Rashee Rice, and fantasy darling Justyn Ross; heck, even Nikko Remigio, an undrafted rookie out of Fresno State, was making plays last week.

That group, especially when Mahomes is in, should be able to beat up on one of the league’s worst secondaries.

A platoon of Antonio Hamilton Sr., Marco Wilson, and Christian Matthew at cornerback isn’t inspiring much confidence. Arizona’s most encouraging corner might even be Kei’Trel Clark, a sixth-round rookie out of Louisville, with sweet feet and a penchant for big hits.

To make matters harder on the Cardinals, the Chiefs have one of the best offensive lines in football, even with a pair of new tackles. Led by Creed Humphrey, Joe Thuney, and Trey Smith on the interior, those guys pave the way for a deep running back room.

On paper, Arizona has one of the worst pass-rushing groups in football, and there isn’t much depth there either. Even when Blaine Gabbert and Shane Buechele come in at quarterback for Kansas City, they should have time behind a young, but long and athletic second and third-string offensive line.

Gabbert and Buechele combined to go 15 of 26 for 214 yards and three touchdowns last week against the Saints… not too shabby for a draft bust and an undrafted third-year quarterback.

Obviously, the Chiefs defense will need to hold up their end of the bargain to cover the spread, and they should with the trio of Colt McCoy, Clayton Tune, and David Blough at quarterback in Arizona.

Those three completed 25 of 41 passes against the Broncos with two touchdowns and an interception… worst of all, they averaged under six yards per attempt (5.8).

Tune, a fifth-round pick out of Houston, actually looked the best, keeping plays on time and using his athleticism to navigate a muddy pocket.

Regardless, even without Chris Jones, the Chiefs pass rush should be breathing down those quarterbacks' necks. Second-year first-round pick George Karlaftis and rookie first-round pick Felix Anudike-Uzomah will be playing with something to prove as they try to earn more playing time.

The poor Cardinals have a strange mix of veteran journeymen and rookies within their first two offensive line units, which is never a good thing when dealing with a front seven as deep as the Chiefs. 

My best bet: Chiefs -7.5 (-110 at bet365)

Chiefs vs Cardinals spread and Over/Under analysis

After closing as +1.5-point road dogs last week against the Saints, the Chiefs had a bad beat with the last-second field goal leading to a two-point loss. They did, however, clear the 38.5-point total for Over bettors.

In Arizona, the Cardinals managed to win outright — thanks to the game-winning drive from Blough — despite being between +5.5 and +6 at home. With the total at 37.5, the Under was never in doubt with the quarterback play in that one.

This week, the Chiefs opened pretty much everywhere between -6.5 and -7-point road favorites, with the line shifting to -7.5 after Reid announced Kansas City’s starters would be playing the first half in Arizona.

With State Farm Stadium in Arizona being an indoor facility, and the Mahomes factor, the total is slightly higher in this one than in other Week 2 games. It opened between 38.5 and 41 at most books and is at least 40 almost everywhere since the news about the Chiefs starters.

The recipe for points is clear, the Chiefs’ top unit will be taking the field against an unproven Cardinals defense that’s lacking in depth.

Where things get complicated is whether or not Arizona is going to be able to keep up. Will they look like the Cardinals of old, or will they look like the high-powered Ohio State Buckeyes while wearing those peculiarly similar uniforms?

With Murray recovering from his torn ACL and Colt McCoy being the only truly experienced quarterback on the roster, Gannon could play it safe and throw Clayton Tune out there for much of the game. He liked what he saw from the rookie last week.

“A rookie in his first NFL game, he probably wants a couple of throws back just like I want a couple of things back,” Gannon said after last week’s win over Denver. “I thought he made some plays with his legs, which is huge in today’s NFL… I was pleased with the operation from him.”

Between him and Blough, who has seven NFL starters to his name, the Cardinals should be capable of putting up double-digit points with the Chiefs handling the rest of the work to hit the Over.

Chiefs vs Cardinals betting trend to know

Since Mahomes’ rookie season, Chiefs’ preseason totals have been over 40 points in 10 of 19 games. Find more NFL betting trends for Chiefs vs. Cardinals.

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