Cardinals vs Raiders Preseason: Why We Took the Over 42.5 on Kalshi

Coach Gene Clemons, aka Orunmila of The 7 Oracles, makes the case for the over on the Arizona Cardinals at Las Vegas Raiders preseason opener. The structural argument is that the deeper a preseason game gets into second- and third-string players, the more defensive busts turn into big plays and touchdowns, while both teams still run scripted opening series with starters that tend to produce points. He leans toward games featuring quarterback competitions or teams that need a quarterback to look good, and says this game has both. Arizona has Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew competing for the job plus rookie Carson Beck, who feels slighted after falling in the draft and who helped the Cardinals put up 30 points against the Panthers in the Hall of Fame game. Las Vegas has Kirk Cousins, who remains a respectable quarterback, backup Aidan O'Connell, and first overall pick Fernando Mendoza, whom the Raiders will want to showcase. Both starting defenses improved from a season in which they were among the worst in the NFL, but those starters do not play much, and the backups behind them are exposed. Both backfields have players with something to prove: high draft picks Jeremiyah Love and Ashton Jeanty get a few carries, while quality backups Tyler Allgeier and rookie Mike Washington Jr. take the bulk of the volume against substandard defenses. The conclusion is to prepare for fourteen points a quarter, which flies past the number.