The Los Angeles Rams are in need of a win to restore their moxie after suffering back-to-back losses for the first time since Sean McVay took over as the franchise’s head coach. Will the Rams avoid a third loss in a row and an embarrassment of a loss to the going-nowhere Arizona Cardinals? The Rams are +525 to win Super Bowl 53.
The Rams got their egos bruised last week the same way the New England Patriots’ pride got hurt last February after Los Angeles got beaten by Nick Foles in a 30-23 Philly win in Hollywood. But it’s no biggie for the Rams. They’re still going to the playoffs, though, they will have to start getting their acts together as they have now lost two in a row, which seemed incomprehensible just a few weeks ago, given their dominance. The Rams’ offense apparently is hurting with the loss of Cooper Kupp to injury, but they still have plenty of downfield weapons for quarterback Jared Goff to look for in the likes of Robert Woods, Brandin Cooks, and Josh Reynolds. And before we forget, the Rams still have Todd Gurley, who’s an unstoppable yard-picking machine that had 48 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries to go with 76 receiving yards on 10 catches against the Eagles. Gurley scored three rushing touchdowns in the Rams’ 34-0 home win in the first meeting with the Cardinals back in Week 2. Gurley should have lots of fun smoking Arizona’s stop unit that’s second worst in the NFL with 144.9 rushing yards allowed per game.
The under is 4-1 in the Rams’ last five road games.
Betting on the Arizona Cardinals (3-11)
The Cardinals scored the first seven points in last Sunday’s matchup with the Atlanta Falcons – and then the wheels fell off, as they let Matt Ryan and company score 40 unanswered points in a 40-14 road loss. Only teams with no direction and discernible desire to win would put up such a pathetic performance, which are fair ways to describe the Cardinals. In any case, the Cardinals will continue to expose rookie quarterback Josh Rosen to as much competition as they can this season, and the Rams are a perfect team to add to his baptism by fire in his first year in the pros. Speaking of Rosen, it’ll be bad for him before anything gets better. He has 2,042 passing yards and 10 touchdowns against 14 interceptions so far this season. Running back David Johnson, meanwhile, will look to play like a superstar that he is after coughing up just 48 rushing yards in the previous tilt against the Rams. Arizona’s defense could be catching the Rams at the right time, too. As mentioned, the Rams are having trouble offensively, so the Cardinals’ stop unit that allows just 211.5 passing yards per game could give the team a major boost.
The over is 3-1 in the Cardinals’ last four home games against the Rams.
