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The Denver Broncos head to Arizona to play the Cardinals in both teams' first preseason game on Friday, Aug. 11 at 10 p.m. ET.
The Broncos enter this season with a ton of intrigue, with Russell Wilson under center after a terrible first season. The team also has a new head coach for the second straight season in the form of Sean Payton
Arizona, meanwhile, will be without Kyler Murray for the first bit of the season as he rehabs from his torn ACL. The Cardinals are likely to miss the playoffs once again this year.
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In this preseason game, Wilson will start under center for the Broncos as Payton likes giving his star players a couple of snaps. How long Wilson will stay in the game is another question, but getting him some snaps will be important for this Broncos offense.
Arizona, meanwhile, will likely see most of the game split between Colt McCoy and Clayton Tune playing to compete for the starting quarterback job.
Broncos vs. Cardinals prediction
The Denver Broncos are sizeable -218 favorites in this one and are -5.5 point favorites as with Wilson under center, the oddsmakers are heavily favoring Denver.
Already, the Cardinals do not have a good defense, so now going up against Wilson in the preseason with likely backups playing will not be good for Arizona.
I expect Wilson to carve through this Cardinals' defense and then turn it over to Jarrett Stidham who is a solid backup. Denver's offense will be too much for Arizona.
The Broncos' defense is also expected to be one of the league's best this season. Also, even if the backups play, they should be able to contain McCoy and Tune to cruise a win.
Prediction: Broncos win.
Betting tips for Broncos vs. Cardinals
The money line is way too high at -218, especially for a preseason game but -5.5 is not terrible as Denver should likely win by more than a touchdown, especially with Wilson under center.
But, the play I like more is the over 37 at -110. With Wilson and most of the starters under center, Denver should be able to carve through Arizona's defense and score plenty of points.
The team total of 20.5 points for Denver at -115 is also a great play for this game, as the Cardinals' defense will struggle here.
