The Arizona Cardinals will kick off their 2021/22 NFL season with a game against the Tennessee Titans in Week 1.
They will hope they could stop two-time reigning NFL rushing champ Derrick Henry yet the matchup will be pretty even elsewhere. Given that they finished last season in the bottom 11 when it comes to rush defense, one would be forgiven for expecting Henry to tear their defenders apart. However, the offense looks much improved.
Whether or not that will be enough to make up for the addition of Julio Jones on the Tennessee end is left to be seen.
As it stands, the Titans are favored to win this one and the best sportsbooks apps in Arizona will have odds going on the matchup. Before lodging bets, though, do read up on the key factors heading into the game, such as weather, injuries and more.
Titans vs. Cardinals Weather
There was no weather report for Nashville on September 12 as of Tuesday afternoon.
Arizona Injuries
| Player | Pos. | Injury | Status |
| Bruno Labelle | TE | Undisclosed | Out |
| Justin Pugh | G | Covid-19 | Out |
| Jordan Phillips | DE | Covid-19 | Out |
Tennessee Injuries
| Player | Pos. | Injury | Status |
| Brent Qvale | OT | Undisclosed | Out |
| Maurice Smith | DB | Undisclosed | Out |
| Trevon Coley | NT | Foot | Out |
| Tedric Thompson | FS | Leg | Out |
| Kevin Peterson | CB | Undisclosed | Out |
| B.J. Bello | ILB | Ankle | Out |
| Elijah Nkansah | OT | Undisclosed | Out |
| Brandon Kemp | OT | Undisclosed | Out |
| Briley Moore | TE | Torn Acl | Out |
| Aaron Brewer | C | Undisclosed | Out |
| Anthony Rush | DT | Covid-19 | Out |
Arizona Last Season
The Cardinals boasted one of the best offenses in yards per game last season, finishing at 6th in that regard with 384.6. They will be going up against a team that allowed 398.3 while fielding the defense ranked at No.28. The Titans allowed a scored on 69.2% of opponents trips to the red zone. Arizona’s percentage in the red zone was at 65.5%.
Arizona’s running game was seventh in the league at 139.8 yards per game, with the Titans allowing 120.8 per game. The latter’s defense had the third-fewest sacks over the course of the season at just 19 but the Cardinals allowed 29 of them.
Tennessee Last Season
The Titans averaged 5.2 yards per rush attempt to rank second in the league, while the Cardinals gave up 4.6 for a spot at No.22. The former’s rushing game was also second in the league, as one would expect, with 168.1 yards covered per game. The Cardinals’ 22nd-ranked defense allowed 125.5 rushing yards per game last term.
Tennessee can be proud of their turnover stats as they only made 12, the second-fewest around the NFL while the Cardinals forced 21 for the 15th-fewest in the league.
When it comes to total yards per game, the Titans also ranked second with an average of 396.4. Arizona ranked 13th in yards allowed with 351.9.
Cardinals Betting Trends
- The Cardinals held a 79-0 record against the spread last season.
- The Cardinals presented an ATS record of 4-5 when playing at least 3-point underdogs last season.
- Their games hit the over five out of 16 occasions.
- Arizona and various opponents combined to score north of 51.5 points in six of 16 games.
- The Cardinals won three of the six games which they went into as underdogs last term.
Titans Betting Trends
- The Titans won seven games against the spread, failing to cover on nine occasions last season.
- The Titans covered the spread on four occasions, with a 4-5 ATS, when playing at least 3-point favorites.
- Titans’ games went over the point total 12 times out of 16 times last season.
- Tennessee plus opponents combined to score over 51.5 points in 10 of 17 games last term.
- They went 8-3 in games in which they were favored on the moneyline, winning 72.7 percent of those games.
Meanwhile, Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury has revealed he doesn’t want to see Kyler Murray take any more snaps in preseason. Fans will likely be disappointed by this, much like they should have been following the dismal loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Murray completed one out of four passes for two yards and chipped in an additional eight yards on the ground. There are likely many fans out there who reckon the quarterback could use a bit of tuning up in the last preseason game against the New Orleans Saints, Kingsbury doesn’t want him doing anything more, although he didn’t confirm that the player would not suit up for Saturday’s finale.
Murray seems pretty happy to take it easy ahead of the season.
“At the end of the day, it’s reps, it’s live reps, so you take something away from it but like I said this doesn’t count,” he said last week. “I don’t know, that’s how I feel about it.”
