Arizona Cardinals vs Buffalo Bills Prediction, 9/8/2024 NFL Picks, Best Bets & Odds Week 1

Game: Arizona Cardinals at Buffalo Bills

Date: Sunday, September 8, 2024

Location: Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, NY

TV: CBS

Odds/Point Spread: Bills (-5.5)

Total/Over-Under: 48

Highmark Stadium is where the Buffalo Bills (11-6 last season) will play the Arizona Cardinals (4-13 last year) on Sunday. Arizona opens this matchup as 5.5-point underdogs. The over/under is 48.

The Arizona Cardinals ended the year with a 4-13 record. The last time they stepped on the gridiron, the Cardinals went up against the Seahawks and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 21-20. Kyler Murray finished 22/30 with 262 yds passing and 1 TD. He had a quarterback rating of 110.7 and walked away from the contest without throwing a pick. Michael Wilson left with an average of 15.8 yards per reception by notching 95 yds on 6 catches. James Conner led the offense in rushing for the Cardinals with 27 carries for 150 yds (5.6 yds per carry). When the final whistle blew, they ran 69 plays which totaled 466 yds. The Arizona Cardinals ran the football 38 times and accounted for 206 yds, earning them an average of 5.4 yards per attempt. On the ground, the Cardinals gave up 138 yds on 25 tries, which calculates to 5.5 yards per rush allowed. Arizona relinquished 16 pass completions on 28 tries for 189 yds, and a completion rate of 57.1%.

Regarding putting points on the board, the Arizona Cardinals had an average of 19.4 PPG. As a team they held an average of 139.1 yds on the ground, ranking them 4th in the National Football League. The Cardinals earned 5,509 total yards for the prior year. Arizona accrued 173 1st downs as a unit, and they committed 101 penalties for 859 yards. They gave the ball to the opposition 18 times (12 picks and 6 fumbles). Arizona amassed 18 passing touchdowns and 17 rushing touchdowns.

The Cardinals were ranked 31st in the league concerning the opposition scoring, conceding 26.8 points per game. The opposition ran for 4.7 yards per rush on the ground and 143.2 yards on the ground per game for the previous season. Over the course of last season, they gave up 2,434 yards via the running game in 17 outings. When talking about passing yards, the Cardinals conceded 3,613 yards which had them ranked 13th in the NFL. Over the course of their 17 games played last season, they gave up 212.5 yards per outing via the pass and surrendering a completion percentage of 68.6%. They surrendered 355.7 yards/game which put them 25th in the league.

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The Bills ended the year having earned a 11-6 record. When they last stepped on the football field, the Bills went home defeated by a final of 27-24 against the Chiefs. Josh Allen (1 touchdown) finished the contest with 186 yards on 26/39 passing while his quarterback rating was 86.1. He didn't throw any interceptions and his average yds per pass attempt was 4.8 yds. Josh Allen ran the ball 12 times for 72 yds, ending the game with 6.0 yds per carry for Buffalo. Dalton Kincaid was one of the featured targets for the Bills, hauling in 5 balls for 45 yards (9.0 yds per catch). Buffalo rushed the ball for 4.7 yards per carry, finishing the contest with 182 yards on 39 carries. The Bills finished the contest with a total of 368 yds while they ran 78 plays (4.7 yards per play). The Bills secondary allowed a completion rate of 73.9%, surrendering 215 yards on 17 for 23 through the air. Buffalo allowed 24 attempts on the ground for 146 yds (6.1 yards per carry).

The Buffalo Bills averaged 374.5 yards per contest ranking them 4th in the league. They averaged 130.1 rushing yards per game and rushed for 2,212 yards for the season. They threw 18 interceptions while losing 10 fumbles and they obtained 199 1st downs. The Buffalo offense accrued 883 yds of penalties on 106 violations, which was 7th in the league in terms of helping out the other team. Throughout last season, the Bills threw for a total of 4,154 yards through the air along with averaging 244.4 throwing yards per game, which ranked 8th in the NFL. Regarding the points being put on the board, the Bills were 6th out of all teams in football holding an average of 26.5 points per contest.

They gave up 18 touchdowns through the air as well as 196.6 yards per contest, which had them sitting 7th in the league. Buffalo allowed a total of 1,880 yards rushing (110.6 yards per game) in addition to 14 touchdowns on the ground last season. Over the course of the season, they gave up 311 total points. They had 30 takeaways (12 fumbles and 18 interceptions) over the course of last year. The Bills defense was on the field for 1,015 plays, which ranked them 3rd in football. The Bills allowed 18.3 points per contest, which had them ranked 4th of all teams in the league.

Who will win tonight's Cardinals/Bills NFL game against the spread?

Parlays Pundit's Pick: Take the Bills -5.5 and over 48 total points

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