The opening betting lines have the Detroit Lions as road favorites over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 3.
The Detroit Lions are on the road for the first time in Week 3 of the 2024 season, traveling to the desert to take on the Arizona Cardinals. The Lions are 1-1 on the season after beating the Rams 26-20 in overtime, but falling short against the Buccaneers, losing 20-16 in Week 2. Meanwhile, the Cardinals are also 1-1, after losing 34-28 to the Bills in Week 1, then annihilating the Rams 41-10 in Week 2.
Despite the Cardinals coming off a drubbing and the Lions faltering, the good folks over at FanDuel Sportsbook, are still favoring Detroit and have set the opening betting line for Week 3 at Lions -3 points.
The Cardinals hired former Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon to be their head coach in 2023, and like most defense-minded head coaches, he went to work trying to fix the offense. In the last two drafts, the Cardinals have tapped into the Ohio State program, selecting left tackle Paris Johnson sixth overall in 2023 and wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. fourth overall in this past draft. They also acquired right tackle Jonah Williams in free agency (currently on injured reserve), former Lions guard Evan Brown in free agency, and wide receiver Zay Jones (suspended) for starting roles in free agency.
On defense, their big 2024 offseason free agent acquisitions were defensive lineman Justin Jones, linebacker Mack Wilson, and corner Sean Murphy-Bunting, who are all in starting roles. They also drafted defensive lineman Darius Robinson in the first round and corner Max Melton in the second round of this past draft, but Robinson is currently on injured reserve and Melton is in a reserve role behind former Lions UDFA Starling Thomas.
On Sunday, the Cardinals had arguably the most impressive win under coach Gannon. Quarterback Kyler Murray had a perfect passer rating, Harrison caught four balls for 130 yards and two touchdowns, in the first quarter (!), and the defense generated five sacks, including a forced fumble.
Of course, the Lions also had five sacks and a forced fumble, with all but a half-sack coming from superstar Aidan Hutchinson. They still have things to clean up on defense, but overall, their defense was much improved from Week 1 to 2. The Lions’ biggest hiccups in Week 2 came from coaching decisions and offensive execution. Fortunately for the Lions, those flaws have not been common over the past few seasons, and they could easily bounce back in Arizona.
Can the Cardinals stay consistently competitive? Can the Lions return to form? We’ll find out this coming Sunday.
