Cardinals vs Cowboys Betting Preview: Experts Reveal 2 Best Bets

The Arizona Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys are set to meet in NFL preseason Week 2 action tonight.

The stage is set at State Farm Stadium with a 7:00 PM AZ time kickoff. With this being Arizona's only home game of the preseason slate, the Cardinals are hoping to put their best foot forward — though barely any starters are expected to play on either side.

With that in mind, here's the best two bets we could find ahead of tonight's action:

Spread: Cowboys +1.5

John Lanfranca, Action Network: "Gardner Minshew definitely brings a veteran presence and a high floor to stabilize any offense in an exhibition game setting, but he won’t be on the field with many of the same players assisting him a week ago.

"Sam Howell brings a similar floor to the Cowboys offense and I favor his surrounding cast of characters more as each quarterback is likely to play the first half.

"I expect the Cowboys defense to continue to play with excellent effort under new defensive coordinator Christian Parker. Their young talent should continue to pay dividends that actually translate to wins in the preseason because they need the reps at this stage of their careers in a new scheme.

"I'll once again be leaning into the trend of backing short road underdogs of fewer than 3 points – a trend with a 66% success rate against the spread in the preseason since the beginning of the 2024 season."

Our take: This is conceivable, as the Cardinals' defense hasn't quite looked strong at any level through preseason play. Gardner Minshew will likely play the first half while Kedon Slovis will play the second. Arizona plans to play a mix of starters while Dallas' intentions are still unknown, though the Cowboys probably won't play anybody, either.

Over/Under: OVER 37.5

Iain MacMillan, SI.com: "The Cardinals played in high-scoring games both in the Hall of Fame Game and Week 1. 63 points were scored in their game against the Panthers, and then 41 points were scored in their game against the Raiders. It's not surprising when you consider that the Cardinals' defense is likely to be one of the worst in the NFL this season.

"I'm not going to look too much into the Cowboys' low-scoring 17-7 win against the Seahawks. Their roster from last season hasn't changed enough to convince me their defense has turned things around. I expect them to be all-offense and no-defense again this year.

"Even with backups playing in this game, I expect the total to go OVER."

Our take: This feels like a pretty good bet, as both teams feature prominent offensive minds in Brian Schottenheimer and Mike LaFleur running the show. The Cardinals have clearly shown an ability to put up preseason points while their defense largely remains TBD. There certainly could be fireworks at State Farm Stadium tonight.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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