Washington at Arizona

We have a pair of teams searching for starting quarterbacks. Washington lost QB Kirk Cousins, so they add 34-year-old Alex Smith. Smith can be steady but is unspectacular. That will be a concern with an offense around him with few playmakers. The defense is where they made major moves, using two of their first five draft picks on Alabama defensive lineman Da'Ron Payne (first round, #13 overall) and Virginia Tech's Tim Settle. All four starting linebackers from 2017 return. Washington is 15-7 UNDER the total in Week 1, scoring 17, 16 and 10 points on opening day the last three seasons. They face an Arizona squad desperate for a quarterback with Sam Bradford, Mike Glennon and rookie first-round draft pick Josh Rosen aboard. This looks like a run-heavy attack behind talented RB David Johnson again. In 2017 the Arizona offense was ranked #24 in third-down percentage, #25 in scoring, and #30 in touchdowns scored in the red zone. Arizona is on a 15-5 run UNDER the total at home. At least the defense is reliable, finishing in the top 10 in each of the past three years. Arizona is 15-7 UNDER the total in September and this looks like a battle of punts, incomplete passes, and field goals. Back the UNDER.