Houston and Arizona resume play out of each team’s second BYE week in hopes of making a final push for bowl eligibility. 

While Arizona is on a massive slide, losers of five straight, the passing game continues to put up big numbers. Can the group find answers against a surging Houston team that has won three of its last four and has an identity under dual threat quarterback Zeon Chriss. 

Here’s two player props for this Friday night showdown. 

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook

Zeon Chriss OVER 66.5 Rushing Yards

Chriss has injected life into this Houston offense, leading the team to three wins in four starts, and the loss was a game he left in the first half due to injury. 

The Louisiana transfer is limited as a passer, but he is dynamic as a runner, which has unlocked this Cougars offense. Chriss has run for at least 75 yards in two of four games and draws a favorable matchup against a limited Arizona defense against the run. 

The Wildcats defensive line gets little push, ranking 98th in defensive line yards with only 43 tackles for loss (102nd in the country), allowing nearly five yards per carry. 

With Chriss, who has been the team’s leading rusher in terms of usage, I imagine head coach Willie Fritz is going to continue to deploy him as a runner with a BYE week to prepare and Arizona doesn’t have the ability to pressure him in the backfield, so I envision we see limited negative gains from him. 

Noah Fifita OVER 243.5 Passing Yards

Fifita has seen his effectiveness fall off a cliff in a new scheme, but that hasn’t stopped the Wildcats from taking to the air this season. 

The sophomore quarterback is pushing the ball down the field far more often this season, averaging nine yards per depth of target while last season that was at less than eight. While that has led to far more turnovers this season, the group has been able to put up big numbers through the air. 

Fifita has cleared this number in six of nine games this season, including all but one game in Big 12. 

Houston has a fine pass defense, right around the national average at 79th in EPA/Pass, but the defense doesn’t get much pressure, 120th in sacks this season. If Fifita has time, I’m confident that he can hit some big plays and get the ball moving through the air. 

This prop has dropped down to adjust for a low total and that Houston can shorten the game on the ground, but I still like Fifita to get to his quota. 

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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PHOENIX, AZ — Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs wants the state to be an early adopter of commuter-friendly flying cars and air taxis, further positioning Arizona as a hub for advanced transportation technologies.

“In Arizona, we have been pioneers in innovation, aerospace, and advanced manufacturing, from the first integrated circuits to cutting-edge computing chips to autonomous cars,” said Hobbs in a statement released Wednesday. “Today, we take bold steps to explore opportunities for artificial intelligence and advanced air mobility and further solidify Arizona’s leadership in technology.”

Hobbs has tasked the Arizona Commerce Authority with taking the initial steps to make this science-fiction future a reality.

“When NASA and FAA kicked off their grand challenge around this topic, Phoenix-Mesa was one of the top 10 cities that they initiated their exploration around,” said Marisa Walker with the Arizona Commerce Authority’s Institute for Advanced Mobility. “There’s long been an understanding that probably is part of that first wave of communities that had the highest probability of moving this emerging technology forward.”

Walker says Arizona’s climate, experience with using new, transportation technologies and the state’s aeronautic and defense roots make it an ideal place for companies to manufacture and test flying cars.

She says since federal agencies are discussing how they will regulate these vehicles, it’s a great time for Arizona to establish itself as a hub for flying cars.

“We’re really at the brink. We’re poised really to take advantage of this, and so it’s in Arizona’s character to get in there,” Walker said.

The Arizona Commerce Authority estimates that while flying cars may not be fully operational for another decade, testing and manufacturing could begin sooner.

According to the Governor’s office, nationally, the market for advanced air mobility could reach $115 billion by 2035.

While flying cars may feel like a far-off fantasy, there are some already available for pre-order like Alef Aeronautics.

“It is a point-to-point vehicle,” Alef Co-Founder Constantine Kisly said. “You drive from your home, maybe like couple, couple 100 feet, 200 feet to the designated parking lot. You take off, you fly to your point of interest, your activities in the city, then you land, then you drive and park your car on the regular parking lot. So it’s almost no change to infrastructure.”

Kisly said his hope is one day this whole process will be automated, which is similar to Walker’s vision for people hauling flying cars the same way they request ride-shares now.

ARIZONA–The Arizona Cardinals are exceeding expectations through 10 games. At 6-4, coming off four straight convincing wins, they hold a lead in the NFC West.

The offense is clicking, quarterback Kyler Murray is playing exceptional football, the defense looks like a different unit to the first six weeks, and plenty of young players are coming into their own. But anything can happen in football.

The Cardinals still have plenty of work to do, but they’re sitting in a position almost no one expected. New ceilings must be installed. For now, let’s take a look at some of the potential outcomes, and whether those narratives are fact or fiction:

The Cardinals have seven very winnable games ahead of them. 7-0 is likely not on the table, but it’s quite realistic to see them go anywhere around 4-3 or 5-2. Finishing with 10 or 11 wins should be enough to make the playoffs, as long as they continue to take care of their divisional opponents.

The Seahawks and Rams are both weak, and the 49ers, while always a threat, aren’t as dominant as they have been. Going 3-1 or better in their divisional matchups would nearly guarantee a playoff spot, if not the division title.

Still, I think it’s more likely the Cardinals sneak into a Wild Card spot, especially with the unpredictable nature of divisional matchups. Most of the NFC teams outside the playoff bubble are quite weak, however three of the four teams closest to a playoff spot currently are the very same divisional opponents the Cardinals will face in LA, Seattle and San Francisco.

Therefore, those divisional games will be critical to their ultimate appearance in the postseason, but it’s a very reasonable expectation to see a 10-7 Cardinals team play in January. It’s hard to truly predict this, especially with Arizona’s history of struggling down the stretch, but this is a much different team than the Kliff Kingsbury years.

Tentatively, it’s realistic that the Cardinals can take care of business under the new regime, with some padding in their schedule in the form of the Panthers and Patriots.

Kyler Murray has been playing some of the best football we’ve seen from him in Arizona. Coming off an ACL tear and a rusty 2023 season, there were certainly some days where the Cardinals could have wanted more from their franchise quarterback in 2024.

But as has the rest of the squad, Murray has gotten hot over the past four games, playing well even when not called upon to deliver volume production. He’s been efficient, calm in the pocket, a leader, and both decisive and accurate for the most part.

Coupled with his top tier elusiveness and speed, and he’s produced 2,429 total yards and 16 total touchdowns with only three interceptions and four fumbles (two of which were charged to him on poor exchanges by his running back).

He’s completing nearly 70% of his passes coming off a 22-for-24 day, is averaging his most yards per attempt (7.5) since his excellent 2021 season, and remains among the NFL’s best in limiting turnover-worthy plays.

Projected out, Murray is on pace for 4,179 total yards, 27 total touchdowns and only five interceptions, and could realistically surpass those numbers by a large margin, considering how many low-volume days Murray put forward in the first half.

Despite the low raw production, Murray is second in QBR (75.7), and sixth in EPA (48.7). He’s coming off his sixth NFC Offensive Player of the Week Award for his efforts against New York, the most ever by a Cardinals quarterback.

The truth is, Murray will be a long shot to actually take home the award. Lamar Jackson and his 3,207 total yards and staggering 26 total touchdowns is the frontrunner and likely recipient. Barring some kind of injury or severe regression, it’s Jackson’s to lose, and Murray’s numbers probably won’t come close.

But the fact of the matter is that in intangible terms, Murray has been exceptionally valuable to the Cardinals, and is making both highlight-reel plays and the calm, mundane plays that keep Arizona’s engine running.

While he’s not a serious threat to win MVP as of now, he absolutely deserves to be in the conversation, and if he keeps up this pace, with Arizona continuing to win games, the 27-year-old signal-caller should receive votes.

Many, especially opposing fans or those in the national media, might be shocked at what the Cardinals are doing. Certainly, it’s been impressive, perhaps surprising to some degree.

But when examined, the Cardinals aren’t truly defying all odds, or playing too far beyond what their potential was ahead of the year. When the 2023 season ended, it felt like the most positive 4-13 season fans could have hoped for.

There was always hope that Arizona, in the second year of their rebuild, could put together plenty of competitive games, hang with some of the contenders, and finish somewhere around eight or nine wins.

But now, at 6-4 and in control of the division, many are claiming overperformance by this team. Yes, the defense has looked excellent, maybe it’s surprising just how dominant they’ve been in their four straight wins.

But the Cardinals are right where they should be in a weak NFC. Their division rivals are struggling, and they survived their schedule gauntlet with a .500 record. That might be a little better than expected, but not to the point of disbelief.

The defense has played beyond their projections, yes, but the offense has been inconsistent up until the past two games. To pull ahead against teams the caliber of the Bears and Jets should be the expectation, not a bonus.

With a very thin team, and the two blowouts at the hands of the Commanders and Packers, expectations might have been skewed by recency bias, but a team that hovers around or just above .500 was always the goal, and failure to reach that threshold would have been a disappointment, rather than the expectation.

The Cardinals have plenty of holes still to fill, especially on defense, and they’re not out of the woods. Winning the West or making a deep playoff run would certainly warrant “ahead of schedule” talks, but for now, the Cardinals are simply playing as well as was reasonable to expect, despite some of the uneducated 4-13 (or worse) predictions from the national media.

I’ve wrongly predicted plenty of losses through this team’s season thus far, but for now, I’m buying in that this is who this team is, and who they are built to be, rather than a flash of greatness in a fleeting patchwork project.