Arizona Cardinals vs. Las Vegas Raiders: Prediction, matchups, how to watch, and more

The Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders head into their Week 2 matchup winless. Both faced the cream of the AFC West crop a week ago, with neither able to secure a victory.

With the history of 0-2 teams in mind, both clubs will fight tooth and nail to win this football game. Who will come out on top? Read on for a breakdown of the game, where to watch, injuries, and the game prediction from our NFL staff.

Arizona Cardinals vs. Las Vegas Raiders preview

The Cardinals are missing their star receiver, DeAndre Hopkins, who is out six weeks due to a PED suspension. But it’s the defensive side of the ball that needs to be better against the Raiders, who arguably have better weapons than the Chiefs did one week ago, save for having an alien at QB.

Obviously, allowing 44 points is unacceptable, as is allowing six touchdown drives on 10 possessions. But the more significant issue is the ease with which Kansas City scored in Week 1. The Cardinals’ defense must play with more discipline, and although we know Vance Joseph wants to play man coverage, Arizona doesn’t have the personnel to do it.

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Seeing a four-quarter fearless Derek Carr was a pleasant change. For years now, he’s played relatively passively until he absolutely needed to make the plays to win games, which he has been surprisingly good at late in the fourth quarter of games.

He slung it around in Week 1, but he did a horrific job taking care of the ball. He never saw Drue Tranquill on his first interception while targeting Darren Waller in the seam. Carr also underthrew an open Davante Adams on the second pick and threw behind Hunter Renfrow, who was being blanketed by Bryce Callahan, on the third.

Josh McDaniels will certainly want Carr to take better care of the ball in Week 2 and beyond.

Cardinals vs. Raiders prediction

Betting line (courtesy of Caesars)
Raiders -5.5; Raiders -235, Cardinals +192; O/U 51.5

Adam Beasley’s Prediction
8-8-1 straight-up, 8-9 against the spread in 2022
Raiders 28, Cardinals 21

Dalton Miller’s Prediction
9-7-1 straight-up, 8-9 against the spread in 2022
Raiders 34, Cardinals 27

Dallas Robinson’s Prediction
9-7-1 straight-up, 6-11 against the spread in 2022
Cardinals 28, Raiders 24

How to watch Cardinals vs. Raiders

• Date/Time
  Sunday, Sept. 18, 4:25 p.m. ET
• Channel
  CBS
• Live Stream
  CBS All-Access, fuboTV, Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV

Cardinals vs. Raiders matchup and stats

Despite sharing desert climates and being relatively close to the West Coast, these interconference opponents haven’t faced one another often.

The last time these two teams met was in November of 2018. In February of that year, McDaniels shockingly backed out of his commitment to the Colts. Meanwhile, Kliff Kinsbury won five games at Texas Tech and was about to fail up into his NFL head coaching gig with the Cardinals. In other words, 2018 feels like a lifetime ago.

Nevertheless, the Raiders won that matchup in 2018, 23-21. They also hold the all-time series advantage, 6-4.

Arizona Cardinals 2022 stats/rankings

• Scoring: 21.0 (t-15th)
• Yards: 282.0 (24th)
• Yards per play: 4.48 (27th)
• Passing: 179.0 (26th)
• Rushing: 103.0 (t-16th)
• Defensive scoring: 44.0 (32nd)
• Yards allowed: 488.0 (31st)
• Yards per play allowed: 7.39 (32nd)
• Pass defense: 360.0 (32nd)
• Rush defense: 128.0 (22nd)

Las Vegas Raiders 2022 stats/rankings

• Scoring: 19.0 (t-23rd)
• Yards: 320.0 (21st)
• Yards per play: 5.71 (13th)
• Passing: 256.0 (12th)
• Rushing: 64.0 (29th)
• Defensive scoring: 24.0 (t-22nd)
• Yards allowed: 355.0 (t-16th)
• Yards per play allowed: 5.46 (16th)
• Pass defense: 279.0 (25th)
• Rush defense: 76.0 (t-eighth)

Injuries to know

Arizona Cardinals

• WR Andy Isabella (back, out)
• WR Rondale Moore (hamstring, out)
• FS Jalen Thompson (toe, questionable)
• DE J.J. Watt (calf, questionable)
• CB Trayvon Mullen (toe, questionable)
• OC Justin Pugh (neck, questionable)
• QB Colt McCoy (injured reserve)
• G Cody Ford (injured reserve)
• S Charles Washington (injured reserve)
• WR Antoine Wesley (injured reserve)
• OT Joshua Miles (injured reserve)
• S Tae Daley (injured reserve)
• G Marquis Hayes (injured reserve)
• CB Antonio Hamilton (non-football injury)

Las Vegas Raiders

• RB Brandon Bolden (hamstring, doubtful)
• OC Andre James (concussion, out)
• FS Tre’von Moehrig (hip, out)
• LB Denzel Perryman (ankle, out)
• DE Jordan Jenkins (injured reserve)
• LB Micah Kiser (injured reserve)
• RB Sincere McCormick (injured reserve)
• OT Brandon Parker (injured reserve)