Cardinals inactives: RB James Conner (ribs) will not play vs. Saints

Week 7 of the NFL schedule begins with a couple of struggling teams on Thursday night when the New Orleans Saints (2-4) pay a visit to the Arizona Cardinals (2-4). Despite coming off back-to-back losses and struggling offensively, the Cardinals are still entering the game favored by less than a field goal.

The pressure was on Arizona this season after last year’s disappointing finish, especially after making long-term commitments to coach Kliff Kingsbury and starting quarterback Kyler Murray. So far, those commitments do not seem to be paying off as planned. Murray and the offense have struggled all year, and now big offseason addition Marquise Brown is sidelined with a significant injury. The Cardinals countered that news by trading for Robbie Anderson from Carolina Panthers to try and give Murray another weapon to work with in the passing game.

While you never want to call a Week 7 game a must-win, especially in a division where nobody is over .500, this is a game the Cardinals need, giving how tough the schedule gets in the following weeks. After playing the Saints, Arizona goes on a five-week stretch before its bye week that features road games at Minnesota and the Los Angeles Rams, and tough games against Seattle, San Francisco, and the Los Angeles Chargers.

This should be a good opportunity for the Cardinals’ offense to break out against a Saints defense that allows more than 26 points per game, a mark that puts them among the bottom-five defenses in the NFL.

The Saints missed a big opportunity to move into a first-place tie in the NFC South this past week by blowing a two-score second-half lead against the Cincinnati Bengals and now have to go on the road on a short week.

The past few Thursday night games have been complete duds in terms of total points. The past two have totaled 21 and 19 points, respectively.

The over/under for this game is set at 44.5 points.

Latest odds and game picks here.

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