Looking at the performance last week against the Bills, the Arizona Cardinals played perhaps the worst game they have ever played in the Bruce Arians era. From a fan of the team, the squad “wet the bed” against Buffalo even though the opponent was in the process of going through a coaching change at the offensive coordinator position. Now the Cardinals are looking at the best team in the NFC West based on record in the Los Angeles Rams. While the city may have changed, the fact that the Rams seem to have always played the Cardinals tough makes this a make or break week for Arizona.
No Shootout Here
Since the Rams returned to Los Angeles, there has been little in regards to flash for the team. The Rams rank near the bottom of the league in almost every major offensive category including dead last in total yards per game. Last week the team had a their best performance of the year by finally scoring a touchdown after being kept out of the endzone through the first two weeks. Quarterback Case Keenum threw for a huge touchdown pass early on against Tampa Bay, but quickly followed it up with a pick six the other way. The Rams were able keep themselves in the game and ended up scoring 37 points against a strong Buccaneers defense where Todd Gurley only ran for 85 yards. It is unlikely that the Rams get another big performance from the offense in back to back weeks as Gurley has been stymied thus far with only 183 yards this year and Keenum still adjusting to being a full time starter after spending most of his career as a backup. But if the Rams get an opening, they could surprise the Cardinals like the Bills did last week.
Protecting the Ball
Last week, Carson Palmer had a day to forget against Buffalo to say the least. Four interceptions and no touchdowns with three of those interceptions being caught within the opponent’s 30 yard line. When he wasn’t being intercepted, Palmer found himself being battered by the Bills blitzes for five sacks as well. The Cardinals put a lot of money into Palmer going into this season and throughout most of the game the Cardinals were down, but having the former Trojan throw the ball 50 times is not a great way to protect him in games where clearly David Johnson and the running game was being effective for the most part. Chris Johnson only carried the ball twice and David Johnson ended up taking 19 carries for 83 yards and two touchdowns. At the end of the day, the Cardinals need to put the ball in the hands of the backs and allow Palmer to survey the field once the defense starts selling out to the run.
Sustaining Drives On Third
Last week the offense only got past third down five times. With the weapons that are available on this Cardinals team punting the ball ten times is not a great way to keep the defense in a rested and ready position either. So far this year the team has not been able to get past third down all that well with efficiency. Currently the squad sits at around 41% on third down which puts them at around twelfth in the league in that category and they have only reached the 50% mark once this year and that was against the Patriots in week one. The defense is maintaining a strong showing thus far in the early part of the year, but eventually that energy will get drained before too long and a defense that ranks in the top ten in most categories will start to suffer. The signs are already there as the Cardinals are 29th in the league in rushing defense after giving up 208 yards against the Bills last week and 106 against the Patriots. Keeping that defense off the field and getting consistent drives that lead to points will be critical going forward for the Cardinals as they try to dig themselves out of the hole they’ve made early on.
Prediction: Rams 16 – Cardinals 21
The game will kickoff October the 2nd in University of Phoenix Stadium. Catch the game on FOX at 1:25 PM.