NFL Picks: Packers vs. Cardinals Best Bets for Thursday Night Football

The Green Bay Packers will hit the road to take on the undefeated Arizona Cardinals in Week 8 of the NFL season on Thursday night. 

Green Bay’s wide receiver room was decimated when Davante Adams and Allen Lazard were both placed on the COVID-19 list this week. 

That moved the spread from Arizona -3.0 to Arizona -6.5 ahead of the matchup at WynnBET Sportsbook. 

It’s a major blow to the Green Bay offense, but Aaron Rodgers has been pretty good without Adams in his career, going 9-1. If he’s going to have a chance to catch Kyler Murray in the MVP race, Thursday’s game is the one to do it. 

Here are our editors’ best bets for Thursday night’s game: 

Best Bets for Packers vs. Cardinals on Thursday Night Football

• Green Bay Packers +6.5 vs. Arizona Cardinals (-110)
• Green Bay Packers vs. Arizona Cardinals UNDER 50.5 (-110)

Green Bay Packers +6.5 vs. Arizona Cardinals (-110)

Oh man, everyone is acting like the sky is falling in Green Bay because of Adams’ absence, but I’m backing Aaron Rodgers at this number all day long. 

The Packers are still 6-1 on the season and have covered in six straight games, plus Rodgers is 9-1 straight up in games without Adams in his career, throwing for 22 touchdowns and just three interceptions for a 115.5 passer rating. 

He’s still Aaron bleeping Rodgers! 

The Cardinals’ defense is the second-worst in the NFL in terms of yards per carry allowed (5.0), so I expect Green Bay to utilize Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon heavily to exploit this Cardinals team. There isn’t a bet I like more this week than Packers +6.5. -- Peter Dewey

Is Packers +6.5 running right into the trap the oddsmakers have set? If so, I might as well stand directly on the "X" that marks the spot.

Green Bay is a flawed team, but so is Arizona. Remember, they're a missed chip shot field goal away in Week 2 from having the same record as the Cardinals!

As for Aaron Rodgers and company, granted it's a somewhat small sample size, but his numbers have actually been better without Adams.

From 2019-2021, Rodgers averages 246.7 passing yards with Adams, and 310.8 without him.

Touchdowns? Rodgers has 2.18 TDs per game with Adams, and 2.83 without him.

Lastly, Rodgers and Green Bay are 26-7 with Adams, and 6-0 without him.

I say all this to point out that it's clearly a flawed stat because who wouldn't want Adams available, but the point remains is that Rodgers is talented enough to make due, and certainly cover a 6.5-point spread on the road. -- Ben Heisler

Green Bay Packers vs. Arizona Cardinals UNDER 50.5 (-110)

There are a lot of question marks in this game, including inactive players on both teams. Most notably, Davante Adams and Allen Lazard won't be in for the Packers. But do those two players being out warrant a 6.5-point spread? I honestly don't know.

Instead, I'm going to look at the UNDER. Both teams defenses are likely better than you think, ranking eighth and 10th in opponent yards per play. Where they really shine is their pass defense. The Cardinals rank third in opponent yards per pass attempt (6.0) and the Packers rank fifth (6.2). That should be able to slow down Kyler Murray and Aaron Rodgers enough for this total to stay below 50. -- Iain MacMillan