NFL Picks 12/1 – Arizona Cardinals @ Minnesota Vikings

NFL Picks 12/1 – Arizona Cardinals @ Minnesota Vikings

by Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com

The Arizona Cardinals (6-5) visit the Minnesota Vikings (9-2) on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Bank Stadium. The teams are meeting for the first time since October 2022 when Minnesota knocked off the visiting Cardinals 34-26. Minnesota has won six of the last eight matchups against Arizona dating back to 2010. The Cardinals franchise has lost 11 straight games (10 regular season, 1 postseason) at Minnesota. Their last win in Minnesota was a 27-7 victory on Nov. 6, 1977 when the franchise was located in St. Louis. Minnesota is a 3-point favorite and the total is 45.5.

Arizona is coming off a listless 16-6 loss at Seattle last week. Arizona had won four in a row prior to the loss and was averaging over 29 points per game in their previous three wins. Seattle’s defense dominated Arizona limiting them to just 49 rushing yards and sacking Kyler Murray five times. Tight end Trey McBride was the lone bright spot for the Cardinals as he recorded season highs of 12 catches and 133 yards. It was his second 100-yard game of the year. 

NFL Picks 12/1 – Arizona Cardinals @ Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota picked up a 30-27 overtime victory at Chicago last week. Parker Romo hit a walk-off 29-yard field goal to win it after Minnesota forced a three-and-out on Chicago’s opening possession in overtime. Quarterback Sam Darnold led a 10-play, 90-yard drive to set up the game-winning field goal. Darnold’s passing accounted for all 90 of Minnesota’s yards in the overtime. Minnesota blew a 27-16 lead with 1:56 left in the game after a Bears touchdown and two-point conversion made the score 27-23. Minnesota was unable to corral an onside kick which led to a game-tying 48-yard field goal from Cairo Santos as time expired. 

Sam Darnold completed 22 of 34 passes for a season-high 330 yards. He was particularly effective with the deep ball completing three passes for at least 40 yards and seven passes for at least 20 yards. Wide receiver Jordan Addison posted career-highs of nine catches for 162 yards and a touchdown in the win. Running back Aaron Jones rushed for a season-high 106 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown, he added three catches for 23 yards.  Minnesota has won four in a row. 

GAME STORYLINES: ARIZONA

After winning the 2018 Heisman Trophy with the Oklahoma Sooners, quarterback Kyler Murray was selected No. 1 overall by the Arizona Cardinals in the 2019 NFL draft. Murray was fantastic as a rookie passing for 3,722 yards with 20 touchdowns to 12 interceptions, as well as 544 rushing yards and 4 rushing touchdowns in 16 games. Murray was named the 2019 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. Murray followed up his tremendous rookie campaign with two more excellent seasons, leading Arizona to the postseason with an 11-6 record in 2021. 

Kyler Murray’s only setback in the NFL was a torn ACL he suffered in December 2022 which essentially ruined 2 seasons as he missed the final 6 games of the 2022 season and the first 11 games of the last season. Arizona posted back-to-back 4-13 records in 2022 and 2023. Murray missing parts of two seasons and Arizona struggling to win games likely caused fans to forget about how good he was.

The 2024 season has been somewhat of a rebirth for Kyler Murray as he’s back to playing at a high level for a full season for the first time since the 2021 season. Arizona is also in position to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2021 season as they now sit in a first-place tie with the Seattle Seahawks atop the NFC West division. Through 11 games, Murray has passed for 2,343 yards with 12 touchdowns to 4 interceptions while rushing for 380 yards and 4 rushing touchdowns. 

NFL Picks 12/1 – Arizona Cardinals @ Minnesota Vikings

The trio of running back James Conner (705 rushing yards, 5 rushing touchdowns, 288 receiving yards in 11 games) tight end Trey McBride (685 receiving yards in 10 games) and highly-touted rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. (546 receiving yards, 6 touchdowns in 11 games) are the key weapons for Kyler Murray in Arizona’s offense. The 25-year-old, third year tight end McBride has emerged as one of the top tight ends in the NFL and is on pace to improve his stats for a third straight season. Arizona selected Harrison Jr. — the son of Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison Sr. — with the fourth overall pick in the draft after a stellar career at Ohio State. He’s had an up-and-down rookie season but the superstar potential is evident.

GAME STORYLINES: MINNESOTA

The 2024 Minnesota Vikings were considered to be in rebuilding mode after letting franchise quarterback Kirk Cousins walk as a free agent — he signed a four-year, $180 million contract with Atlanta — in March. They’ve also jettisoned offensive stars like running backs Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison, along wide receiver Adam Thielen in recent years. All four players starred on Vikings teams that scored a lot of points but were inconsistent and had a knack for losing close games. 

It was rumored that Minnesota would also part ways with superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson (939 yards, 5 touchdowns through 11 games in 2024) in the offseason but they ended up signing him to a four-year, $140 million contract extension in June. The 25-year-old Jefferson immediately established himself as one of the best wideouts in the NFL as a rookie when he amassed 88 catches for 1,400 yards and 7 touchdowns in 2020. Jefferson finished with receiving totals of 1,616 and 1,809 yards over the next 2 seasons respectively. A hamstring injury limited him to just 10 games last season but he still finished with 1,074 yards and 5 touchdowns.

In an effort to replace Kirk Cousins, Minnesota moved up one spot in the 2024 NFL draft to select Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy with the 10th pick in the first round. McCarthy had just led Michigan to a 15-0 record and the 2023-24 BCS National Championship. Minnesota also signed journeyman quarterback Sam Darnold to a 1-year contract. Both were expected to compete for the starting job in training camp but McCarthy suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee during the Vikings preseason opener which resulted in Darnold winning the starting job by default. 

NFL Picks 12/1 – Arizona Cardinals @ Minnesota Vikings

Sam Darnold has been fantastic with the Vikings this season. He’s passed for 2,717 yards with a career-high 21 touchdowns to 10 interceptions through 11 games. The 27-year-old Darnold entered the NFL with huge expectations after the New York Jets selected him third overall in the 2018 draft out of USC. The Jets ended up trading him to Carolina after 3 seasons. Minnesota is his fourth team in 7 NFL seasons. Darnold is now playing like the star many projected him to be prior to entering the NFL. 

Minnesota signed recently released quarterback Daniel Jones for the remainder of the season to its practice squad. He’s expected to join the 53-man roster at some point down the line. In a similar fashion to Sam Darnold, Jones was also a high draft pick (No. 6 overall in the 2019 NFL draft) who was immediately thrust into a starting role as a rookie and had some struggles. 

Minnesota possesses one of the better defenses in the NFL. They lead the NFL in interceptions (16), rank fourth in sacks (38) and rank fifth in points per game allowed (17.9). The standouts on the defense include safeties Harrison Smith (64 tackles, 2 interceptions, 1 sack in 11 games) and Camryn Bynum (58 tackles, 3 interceptions in 11 games) along with linebackers Andrew Van Ginkel (53 tackles, 9 sacks, 14 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble, 2 defensive touchdowns in 11 games) and Jonathan Greenard (37 tackles, 9 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles in 11 games). 

The Vikings signed Andrew Van Ginkel to a two-year, $20 million contract in the offseason and he’s become one of the best defensive players in the NFL this season. The 29-year-old Wisconsin product is the fourth player in NFL history with eight sacks and two interceptions returned for touchdowns in a single season. He is a dark horse candidate to win the Defensive Player of the Year. 

THE PICK: VIKINGS (-3.5)

Minnesota has won 4 in a row and has owned the Cardinals franchise at home. The Cardinals franchise last win in Minnesota was in 1977 when they were known as the St. Louis Cardinals. I think Minnesota has a significant edge over Arizona offensively and defensively. Lay the Points…Vikings 31, Cardinals 20