Arizona Cardinals at St. Louis Rams
Edward Jones Dome
Thursday, December 11, 2014
8:25 pm ET/7:25 pm CT
AT
Injuries:
Rams: No one out
Cardinals: Tyran
Mathieu (out), Paul Fanaika (out)
Matchups
When the Rams run the
ball:
To put it simply, Tre Mason and Bennie Cunningham do not
want to face the Cardinals defense every week. Giving up only 3.9 yards/attempt
(6th in the NFL) and less than 100 yards a game (92.1, 6th)
to opposing runners, this is the strength of the Cardinals defense. This
strength vs. strength matchup will be interesting to watch, as Mason and
company have been running very well in recent weeks.
Edge: slight edge
Cardinals
When the Rams pass the
ball:
The Rams come in averaging just 7.2 yards/attempt (20th)
and 208 yards per game (26th), so the passing game does not strike
fear in the hearts of defenses around the league. There is good news for Rams
fans though: Arizona’s pass defense is not elite, surrendering 7.5 yards/per
attempt (20th) and 263 yards per game (27th). With safety
Tyran Mathieu out, look for Schottenheimer to use varied formations to get
favorable matchups for Kenny Britt and Stedman Bailey (i.e. not lined up
against Patrick Peterson), and for Shaun Hill to test the safeties by attacking
them vertically.
The Cardinals pass rush, while better than their secondary,
is still fairly middle of the road, having only tallied 31 sacks (tie 16th)
so far this season. Greg Robinson will mostly be matched up with DE Calais
Campbell, and if Robinson can win the majority of those one-on-ones, the Rams
could have a banner passing night.
Edge: slight edge
Rams
When the Cardinals run
the ball:
The Cardinals are abysmal running the ball, and have only
gotten worse this week with news that Andre Ellington is out for the rest of
the season with a hernia. This was a unit that already ranked last in the
league, or at least close to it, in every important rushing statistic,
including total yards, yards per game, and yards per attempt.
It almost doesn’t matter what the Rams have done with run
defense this year, because the Cardinals will not run well on them, but for
reference, the Rams have surrendered 104.8 yards/game (10th), 4.2
yards/attempt (15th), and has forced a league leading 11 fumbles.
If the Cardinals can keep the turnovers under control, this
matchup may not be vital for their chances at winning. But either way, it seems
like this may be the most open and shut case of the matchups.
Edge: Rams by a
landslide
When the Cardinals
pass the ball:
Arizona comes in throwing for 245 yards/game, good enough
for 14th in the league. The Rams defense, also 14th, is
surrendering 240 yards/game. With current quarterback troubles, look for DEs
Robert Quinn and Chris Long to attempt to terrorize Drew Stanton (7 TD, 5 INTs)
and force him to make mistakes. Trumaine Johnson and rookie corner EJ Gaines
will have their hands full with future Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald and
upstart rookie John Brown, but with the steady play of safety TJ McDonald and
new acquisition Mark Barron coming along nicely, I still see this as a matchup
the Rams should win.
Edge: slight Rams
Special teams:
This game features two of the more explosive return men in
the league. Ted Ginn Jr. handles all the return duties for the Cardinals, and
Tavon Ausin of course handles punt return duties for St. Louis. Austin’s 143
total return yards last week was the most of any player in the league this
year, so the Cardinals are facing him at the wrong time.
Edge: wash
Final Prediction:
Rams 24, Cardinals 10
The Rams defense is playing out of their minds right now,
and I don’t expect that to change any time soon. This pass rush is fun to
watch, and it’s been great to see the young secondary developing as the season
progresses. These are two teams that are trending in opposite directions right
now, and so I’m picking the Rams to come out on top.
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