3 Bold Predictions for KC Chiefs vs Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals have a chance to stay undefeated in Week One

It is that time of year. Without great information to go on having not seen any of these teams in regular season action, writers like to give their best and boldest predictions for the NFL Kickoff games. I, for one, am certainly not immune to that impulse and I am going to give you my thoughts on three crazy (or not so crazy) things I could see happening on Sept. 11 in Glendale between the Arizona Cardinals and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes will be traveling to Arizona to take on Kliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray at home in State Farm Stadium.  One of the dominant headlines is the connection between Kingsbury and Mahomes who played under him at Texas Tech from 2014-2016. This will be the first matchup we have seen between the pair of coach/quarterback and one that promises a lot of excitement on offense.

Currently, the Chiefs are the betting favorites with a line of -4.5 in favor of the visiting team. However, the Cardinals under Kingsbury have a good record on opening weekend and there are plenty of reasons to believe that history could repeat itself with a surprise win over the favored team. In fact, Arizona has been the underdog in every season opener coached by Kingsbury and has gone 2-0-1 in those matches. Murray famously brought the Cards back in the 4Q in 2019 to tie a game with the Detroit Lions and the squad has bucked the odds in subsequent openers against the San Francisco 49ers and Tennessee Titans.

1. A rookie pass rusher has a multiple sack game

Right out of the gate, I am going with perhaps the boldest of these predictions. I don’t, however, think it is completely impossible. There is a bit of a Markus Golden situation at the moment and his availability for Week 1 does impact this prediction, but I am going to operate under the assumption that Golden will be playing on Sunday.

With the loss of Chandler Jones, the unknowns at pass rusher are high for the Arizona Cardinals. The only truly known quantity at the position is Golden who had a solid 11-sack season in 2021 that led the team. Behind him are promising, but as of yet, unproven rookies like Cameron Thomas and Myjai Sanders, alongside Dennis Gardeck who has not had a large enough regular season sample size to truly judge.

Similar to last season when double-teaming Jones freed up Golden to have a good year, the Chiefs will be game planning for the only player they have any substantive information on which in this case is Golden himself.

Golden might not be the type of player that warrants double the attention like a Chandler Jones does, but he will be respected and planned for on one side of the field. That gives a great opportunity for one of the rookies on the other side to surprise an offensive line that is not completely prepared for them. If I had to guess, the best candidate for this would be Myjai Sanders. Not because he is inherently better than Thomas, but simply because he has a fast twitch and bend that I could see taking some offensive linemen by surprise.

2+ sacks incoming for the third-round pick from Cincinnati? Maybe!

2. The Chiefs and Cardinals blow past an over/under of 53.5

When you look at the play styles and roster construction of the Chiefs and Cardinals you see two similar teams. Both have dynamic quarterbacks throwing to speedy receivers and average/below-average defenses that could struggle containing a high-flying offense. Notably, both are also missing a big-name receiver from 2021 that will not be playing in Week 1. (Tyreek Hill for KC and DeAndre Hopkins for AZ)

Patrick Mahomes has a group of mid-tier, but savvy, veteran receivers that he will elevate with his own stunning levels of talent. He also has arguably the best tight end in football, Travis Kelce, who will likely be a big target for him as he gets accustomed to the team sans Tyreek Hill.

Kyler Murray is missing his biggest weapon on Hopkins, but AJ Green can fill the role of big-bodied veteran receiver while young guys like Marquise Brown, Rondale Moore, Greg Dortch, and Andy Isabella show off their insane speed all over the field.

On the other side of the ball for both teams are secondaries that are suspect at best. Neither can claim a true No.1 shutdown corner and are populated by younger players that can be hit or miss at times. When two quarterbacks of the caliber of Mahomes and Murray are throwing the ball, it seems highly likely that the offensive numbers coming out of this game might be pretty wild. Both teams blowing past 30 points in Week 1 would not surprise me at all. In 2021 the Chiefs averaged 28.2 points per game and the Cardinals put up 26.4, the 4th and 11th highest scoring teams respectively.

With the increased talent on the Arizona offense that also includes a great tight end and running back room, the potential is there for LOT of points.

3. Kyler Murray throws for over 350 yards/4 touchdowns and wins Player of the Week

Call it an instinct, but Kyler Murray seems like he has a different mindset going into this season. He has achieved his dream of securing a huge NFL contract that gives him security for years to come and it seems like he is starting to fully step into a role as the leader of the Arizona Cardinals.

The offensive line has come together into a unit that looks capable of protecting the young quarterback. The return of Rodney Hudson from potential retirement and the additions of Will Hernandez and Cody Ford solidified the line and had the added benefit of bringing in an old friend of Murray’s from Oklahoma.

The wide receiver group is arguably the best it has been in several years headlined by the addition of one of Murray’s best friends, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown. The continued progress of Moore, Dortch, and Isabella are also encouraging signs that the receiver room is plenty deep behind superstar DeAndre Hopkins who will be sitting out the first six weeks of the season.

With an average secondary facing off against him, Murray has the weapons to play an incredible game and give the Arizona Cardinals a big opening week win. If he does that and throws for the 350 yards and 4 touchdowns I am predicting, he seems like a shoo-in for NFC Offensive Player of the Week which would be the sixth such honor in his young football career.

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