Panthers vs. Cardinals | NFL Week 2 Breakdown & Best Bets: Murray vs. Young

The Carolina Panthers are out in the desert, ready to take on Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals. Let's jump right into this matchup at State Farm Stadium.

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Game Information

Matchup Information

• Location: State Farm Stadium; Glendale, Arizona
• Date: Sunday, September 14th, 2025
• Kickoff: 4:05 PM EST

Quarterback Matchup

• Carolina Panthers: Bryce Young (4-10; 2024 – 171.6 YPG | 15 TD | 9 INT)
• Arizona Cardinals: Kyler Murray (8-9; 2024 – 226.5 YPG | 21 TD | 11 INT)

Betting Odds

Odds via BetOnline, an industry leader in the sports betting world.

Analysis & Breakdown

Defense Wins Championships

With Kyler Murray under center and Marvin Harrison Jr. out wide, it's easy to see why everyone thinks offense first when they think of the Arizona Cardinals. I'm here to talk to you about a couple guys on the defensive side of the ball. Rookie cornerback Will Johnson looked fantastic in his debut with the team. The first year corner was taken in the 2nd round of this year's draft and made an immediate impact.

Johnson allowed four catches on seven targets for just 32 yards, while forcing three incompletions; one coming in the fourth quarter when he ran through Chris Olave. Now you pair Johnson with third year corner Garrett Williams. Williams finished as the 6th ranked cornerback in 2024, per PFF rankings.

Now let's talk about this offense. Kyler Murray and MHJ connected on five of his six targets, he recorded 71 yards and scored a touchdown in the season opener. This was against a really bad Saints team. However, this is a really bad Panthers team. Carolina gave up the 2nd most touchdowns to wide receivers last year and gave up 31.4 points per game (32nd).

He Might Be Bad

Bryce Young gets another start with the Carolina Panthers and it just doesn't seem like it's getting any better. Young threw the ball 35 times in Week 1, completing just  51% of those passes. He did throw one touchdown but added in two interceptions for good measure. It's too early for Andy Dalton speculation but if Young doesn't put together a better start, it might be that time.

Outside of Bryce Young, we saw rookie wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan record five receptions for 68 yards in his debut. The young receiver lead the Panthers in targets with nine, recording no drops and looking ready to be this team's WR1.

The Panthers have a long season in front of them and they've got some promising young talent to evaluate over the course of the year.

Sunday's Best Bets

Kyler Murray o26.5 Rushing Yards (-110)

Kyler Murray is a mobile quarterback and when he decides to finally lean back into it, the Cardinals will win more games. All of Week 1 we saw quarterbacks using their legs to help them win games, ice games and just keep the chains moving. Murray's averaged over 40 rushing yards per game just once in his career and he's yet to crack nine attempts per game.

In the Cardinals opener we saw Kyler run seven times, three of those being designed quarterback runs. He finished with 38 yards on the ground and this week he faces last year's last ranked rush defense. The Panthers allowed 179.8 rush yards per game and last year in this exact matchup, Murray finished with 63 rushing yards on eight rush attempts.

Murray's a consistent threat to get out of the pocket and make a dash for the first down line, look for him to utilize his legs in this one.

Chubba Hubbard o2.5 Receptions (-110)

We're going back Hubbard in this matchup with the Cardinals, this time going with the receptions. Hubbard saw five targets in the team's Week 1 matchup with the Jaguars, recording 32 yards in the air. The reason we're switching over to the receptions is just volume, Hubbard's average 3.6 targets per game over his last 16 games, clearing this line in 10 of those 16 games.

Hubbard saw 67% of the offensive snaps in Week 1, finishing the game with 19 touches, 89 total yards and a touchdown. He scored the Panthers lone touchdown in Week 1, with it coming on a 27-yard catch and run late in the fourth quarter. With this revamped Cardinals secondary, don't be surprised if Young's forced into one too many checkdowns here on Sunday.

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