Kyler Murray
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Can Kyler Murray lead the Arizona Cardinals to a win over the Carolina Panthers?
When the general betting and picking public is almost unanimously behind one particular team, it instantaneously begins to feel like a risky proposition to back that same team. This is the exact position that the Arizona Cardinals are in heading into their Week 2 matchup with the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
Per Anthony Rizzuti of Panthers Wire, 42 of 43 experts at USA Today, ESPN, NFL Media, CBS Sports, Pro Football Talk, and Sports Illustrated have picked the Arizona Cardinals to win on Sunday and start the season 2-0 for the first time since 2021. NFL Network’s Bucky Brooks was the lone Panthers backer, in case you were curious as to where you should direct your vitriol, but please, be better than harassing people on the internet.
To highlight even further just how little belief there is in the Carolina Panthers as Week 2 approaches, we can look at just how one-sided the betting market has been on this game. According to Bet MGM, 78 percent of spread bets have been placed on the Cardinals (-6.5), and even more noteworthy, 95 percent of the money that has come in on this game is on Arizona.
Consider sportsbooks all across the country big fans of the Carolina Panthers this weekend, and while there isn’t much from the opening week of the 2025 season that could make you think Carolina is bound to upset Arizona, history dating back to 1995 does give the Panthers the edge.
Panthers Have Dominated Cardinals Head to Head
Of all opponents that the Arizona Cardinals have played at least 15 times, no team has had the Cards number like the Carolina Panthers have. In 21 total regular season and postseason meetings, the Panthers have gotten the better of the Cardinals 15 times. And over the last decade, Carolina has emerged as an even more bigger and more annoying thorn in Arizona’s side, winning 7 of the last 8 matchups dating back to 2015.
You don’t need me to tell you that what happened in a January 2015 matchup has little to do with what will unfold on the field in September 2025. But what happened last December, as the Panthers were playing for nothing while the Cardinals were playing to remain in the Playoff hunt, does carry at least a little weight heading into this matchup.
A 36-30 overtime win in Charlotte gave Carolina their 4th victory of the year and dropped the Cardinals to 7-8 after a promising 6-4 start to the season. The only loss in this series that may sting more than that one was in the 2016 NFC Championship Game, when the Panthers steamrolled the Cardinals and advanced to play in Super Bowl 50.
The key on Sunday will be which of these two teams can dominate in the trenches. Last year, the Panthers rushed for over 200 yards in their win over the Cardinals. But in Week 1 of the 2025 season, it was the Panthers defense was gashed by Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne, who rushed for 143 yards, the second-highest single-game total in his career.
This could be a sign that James Conner, Trey Benson and Kyler Murray are all in store for a big game on the ground on Sunday afternoon. And if that’s how the game script goes, then all of those Cardinals backers will be cashing in post-game.