Rams vs. Arizona Cardinals: Who has the edge?

RAMS (12-5) VS CARDINALS (11-6)

When: Monday, 5:15 pm

Where: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood

TV/radio: ESPN; 710am, 93.1 FM, 1330am (Spanish)

Row: Rams of 3-1/2

Indications of notable injuries: Rams: S Jordan Fuller (ankle) goes IR; S Taylor Rapp (concussion) out; WR Van Jefferson (as) is questionable. Cardinals: RB James Conner (rib), WR Rondale Moore (ankle), LG Justin Pugh (calf), DE Jordan Phillips (knee) and CB Marco Wilson (shoulder) in question; DE JJ Watt (as) is expected to return from IR.

What is at stake? It’s time for the Rams to show what they have after GM Les Snead and coach Sean McVay went all out, acquiring QB Matthew Stafford last winter and WR Odell Beckham Jr. and LB Von Miller during the season, to try to hit the Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium on February 13. McVay’s teams made it through the first round in two of their previous three playoffs and advanced to the Super. Bowl after the 2018 season. Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury and QB Kyler Murray appeared in the playoffs for the first time, trying to prolong their team’s breakout season.

Who’s better? The Cardinals had a case for most of the season, but that changed when the Rams beat them 30-23 at Arizona in December, a game in which WR DeAndre Hopkins injured. The Rams have won five of their last six games, and the Cardinals have lost four of their last five. Football Outsiders analyzes ranked the Rams’ offensive and defensive abilities as number 8 and number 5, and number 15 and number 6 respectively, for the Cardinals.

Matches to watch: Rams LT Andrew Whitworth and Cardinals OLB Chandler Jones. Stafford has been fired five times in the 49ers game, and 13 times in the Rams’ last five. Jones had 10-1/2 sacks, and had six of the Cardinals’ 21 mandates.

Rams wins if… If blocked by the offensive line and an efficient running game combine to keep the Cardinals’ rush pass from pressuring Stafford in the flips. If the defensive front can contain Murray as it did in the Rams’ December win. If secondary, now subtracting both starting safety points, will bounce back after allowing the 49ers 10.3 yards per pass, the most of the Rams’ opponents this season.

Fictional options: Staff. If (from there again) he is defended, the Rams’ QB can repeat his 23-to-30, three-times TD, zero-intercept record against Arizona last month. The Cardinals have skipped 14 touchdowns and made one interception in their last five games.

Guess: Rams 27, Cardinals 23. It will be tough for the Rams to pull together the three playoff wins needed to reach the Super Bowl after going 2-5 over the playoff teams in the regular season. But they will get this win against a team that hasn’t had much playoff quality since mid-season.

https://www.ocregister.com/2022/01/16/rams-vs-arizona-cardinals-who-has-the-edge-7/ Rams vs. Arizona Cardinals: Who has the edge?

Huynh Nguyen

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