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ATL
The media reaction around the NFL on Monday has been nearly unanimous on the Cardinals-Texans trade that landed Arizona one of the best receivers in the league in DeAndre Hopkins for the seemingly very, very low price of running back David Johnson and a couple of draft picks but not a first-rounder: Utter thievery by Cards GM Steve Keim. CBS Sports used the word fleece.
Various NFL oddsmakers sure seem to support that Arizona won the trade in a landslide. The Westgate SuperBook shifted the Cardinals from +4000 to +2000 for the NFC title and +8000 to +4000 for the Super Bowl. Houston jumped from +2000 to +4000 to win the AFC and +4000 to +8000 to win the Super Bowl.
At Circa sportsbook, Arizona went from +7500 to +5000 to win the Super Bowl and Houston from +3500 to +5000. PointsBet dropped the Cardinals to +4000 to win the first title in franchise history and moved Houston up to that same price.
Each team's win total at PointsBet also shifted a half-win, with Arizona now at 7.5 and Houston 8 – the SportsLine Projection Model forecasts the Cardinals to win 7.3 games and Texans 7. Houston is now a +225 third-favorite to win a third straight AFC South title, and Arizona is a +800 long shot in the very tough NFC West.
These two teams do not play in the 2020 regular season. The last time Hopkins faced off against NFC West teams – he will have six games against that division this year -- was in 2017 and he had 30 catches for 560 yards and four touchdowns in those four games.
Kyler Murray's MVP odds at FanDuel got a bit better as the second-year quarterback is now +2600. Deshaun Watson is +1200 after losing his favorite target. Houston's receiving group right now is Will Fuller (always hurt), Kenny Stills, Keke Coutee, DeAndre Carter, Steven Mitchell, Chad Hansen and Isaac Whitney.
