Last week the Cardinals survived a scare with the 49ers in a desperate division battle San Francisco treated as their best way of returning to respectability. The team that hoisted the NFC crown just a few years ago came up short as the Cardinals found a way to survive down to the final whistle. Now Bruce Arians and company get back on the plane and head off to St. Louis to battle the Rams in another division matchup that Arizona feels like they should have easily. However the home team this week already bested the Cardinals on the road in Phoenix, and they would love to be able to sweep the division leaders and perhaps make their push to sneak into the wild card race.
No More CJ2K
Last week the Cardinals suffered a terrible loss in regards to their roster with the injury of Chris Johnson. While the franchise medical staff has not released any in depth reports about what the injury actually is it is described as a partial break or fracture in the tibia bone. Already the Cardinals have placed him on the designated to return list and with the rules in place regarding injured reserve, the former Titan would be suiting up for the Super Bowl and the earliest. Those in the football world would designate this as a rare occurrence that a team would hold out hope for a player to return from injury on the grandest stage in the sport of football but it isn’t uncommon. Terrell Owens returned from a broken leg against the Patriots for the Eagles Super Bowl 39 appearance and the Steelers kept Rod Woodson on the roster rather than placing him on injured reserve after tearing his ACL in the first week of the 1992 season which ended against the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl 30 where Woodson held firm and blanketed Hall of Famer Michael Irvin for most of the game. For the Cardinals they would hope to have better luck than those two franchises should they reach the Super Bowl but now they will have to rely on David Johnson as the premier tail back with Andre Ellington still battling his injuries to his toe. The rookie has shown promise, but mostly as a receiver and open field runner on returns. His backfield vision will be tested for the coming weeks and teams will look to see if they can force David Johnson to run in between the center and guard positions rather than let him get around the edges of the line.
Greatest Side Show On Turf
Since setting up shop at the Edward Jones Dome the Rams have been considered one of the greatest offensive franchises in the NFL. In St. Louis the franchise created the “Greatest Show on Turf” with players like Kurt Warner, a former Cardinal, Marshall Faulk and receivers like Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt and Az-Zahir Hakim just to name a few. Even after that slew of legends left they were replaced with capable players such as Marc Bulger and Steven Jackson they continued to be exciting and fast for those who supported the local gold and blue. Since those days however the Rams have struggled to find any kind of offensive identity. Tavon Austin is no Isaac Bruce. Kenny Britt is not Torry Holt. Todd Gurley is impressive, but he is no Marshall Faulk. And if there is one thing that the folks in St. Louis can agree on is that almost anybody is better than the Nick Foles of 2015. The former Eagle showed signs of promise as a signal caller under Chip Kelly even though he was in an offense that didn’t fit his style of play. Now in St. Louis the former Arizona Wildcat has become as much of a statue as those who watched him in Arizona Stadium remember his as. Foles has gone back and forth from starter to backup due to injuries this year and seems to find the ground a more open receiver than any of his pass catchers with a passing percentage just over 55% this year. His seven touchdowns to nine interceptions may rate as one of the worst ratios in the league and his 98 yards lost on 14 sacks is terrible for an offense still trying to find momentum. If Bruce Arians wants to see where he is going to find his 4th quarter pass rush for the later part of the year, this is the game to find it out.
Building On Turnovers
The defense of the Cardinals is filled with speed players that can cover ground faster than perhaps any team in the NFC. Bucannon, Mathieu, Peterson, Rashad Johnson just to name a few on the back eight. The issue though is that with all that speed the Cardinals are not getting to the ball fast enough when it is up for grabs. Turnover ratios normally designate the good defenses into great defenses. The Cardinals plus 2 in that category just designates them as good. The fifteen interceptions and six forced fumbles really have done wonders through the year, but the Cardinals have also had their recent spell with bad ball control. Going into this week Arizona has thrown nine interceptions and fumbled the ball away ten times. When the defense gets you a turnover the goal is to get the touchdown no matter what. Yet the Cardinals have found it difficult in the last few weeks to get those opportunities and make the most of them. It isn’t fair to the defense that they don’t get included in the discussion with great defenses like the Panthers and even the Chiefs who take in a plus 16 and plus 12 turnover ratio respectively. Right now the Cardinals find themselves in a similar spot as the Denver and New England defenses of groups that hold the opponent to almost nothing the entire game, but don’t truly dominate in the fashion as other squads in the league right now. And it isn’t that group of eleven’s fault. If the Cardinals defense is going to start getting more respect right now, it surprisingly falls on the offense to put them in the discussion with Carolina as perhaps one of the best units in the NFC.
The Cardinals will start their final meeting this season with the Rams at the Edward Jones Dome come 11:00 AM on Fox. The idea that the Cardinals take the Rams lightly after the loss they took back in week 4 is unlikely. Plus Bruce Arians more than likely leaned into his team after the battle with San Francisco was as close as it was. Look for the Cardinals to use this game as a way of measuring their offensive line’s ability to dominate a game against one of the more talented front fours in the sport today as we get closer to January football.
Cardinals – 20 Rams – 11