Thursday Night Football doesn’t exactly bring an exciting matchup this week with the Cardinals hosting the Saints. The two teams have a combined 4-8 record and are dealing with some key injuries. Let’s try to spice up this game by winning some money on No House Advantage. There are two types of contests to play, “Pick ‘Em” and “Vs The House.” Here are some of the more appealing options among them.
NFL Thursday Night Football Odds and Props: No House Advantage
DeAndre Hopkins: Over 59.5 Receiving Yards
Hopkins has completed his suspension for violating the league’s performance-enhancing substances policy. The Cardinals badly need him, with Marquise Brown (ankle) now expected to spend extended time on the sidelines. They did add Robbie Anderson for depth, but Hopkins is now the undisputed top target for Kyler Murray.
Hopkins often battled injuries last season, which left him with some muted stat lines. Over his last five games, he had at least 60 yards receiving just one time. However, with plenty of targets likely coming his way in his first game back, the over here is appealing.
Alvin Kamara: Over 71.5 Rushing Yards
With the Saints offense littered with injuries, they have relied on Kamara in a big way the last two games. He received a total of 42 carries, posting 103 and 99 yards receiving. Not only was he busy on the ground, but he also caught 12 passes for 116 yards during that span.
Michael Thomas (foot) and Jarvis Landry (ankle) will be out at least one more game, which means the Saints could look for Kamara to carry a heavy workload again. This isn’t the easiest of matchups for him, with the Cardinals allowing the seventh-fewest yards rushing per game in the league. However, with the expectation that Kamara approaches 20 carries again, the over here is still the way to go.
Zach Ertz: Over 4.5 Receptions
Ertz had another productive stat line in Week 6, catching seven passes for 70 yards against the Seahawks. It was the second time that he finished with at least 70 yards receiving in a game this season, and he’s already reached the end zone two times. Over 11 games with the Cardinals last season, he reached the end zone just three times.
Hopkins coming back likely won’t have a huge impact on Ertz considering that Brown is now out. Ertz received at least 10 targets in four of the last five games, and he had at least six receptions in all five of those games. Given that he only needs five here, the over is the play. The NFL Player Props Tool has Ertz projected to finish with 4.7 receptions.
Kyler Murray: Over 0.5 Interceptions
Simply put, Murray has not played well since signing his lucrative contract extension. He has thrown for one or no touchdown passes in four of six games, and he also has thrown for 250 or fewer yards four times. He did do a lot of damage with his legs in Week 6, though, running 10 times for 100 yards against the Seahawks. Prior to that, he had rushed for fewer than 30 yards in four of the Cardinals’ first five games.
A lack of production hasn’t been the only issue with Murray. He’s also been turning the ball over, throwing an interception in four of the last five games. While the Saints only have one interception this season, look for them to pick off Murray at least one time on this short week.
