Rams at Cardinals: Who has the edge?
RAMS (1-1) AT CARDINALS (1-1)
When: Sunday, 1:25 p.m.
Where: State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Ariz.
TV/Radio: Fox (Ch. 11); 710 AM; 93.1 FM; 1330 AM (Spanish); Sirius 135, 385
Line: Rams by 3½ points
Notable injury designations: Rams: WR Van Jefferson (out; knee), C Brian Allen (out; knee), CB Cobie Durant (out; hamstring), CB David Long (out; groin), S Jordan Fuller (questionable; hamstring)
Cardinals: RB James Conner (questionable; ankle), WR Rondale Moore (out; hamstring), LB Ezekiel Tuner (out; ankle)
What’s at stake? An opportunity for the Rams to regain luster as reigning Super Bowl champions. They’re not playing like a team that won it all last season and they can remind the league what they did by delivering an impressive victory to start the NFC West slate. Arizona also lost its luster after getting crushed by the Kansas City Chiefs in a season-opening loss, making many forget that they made the playoffs last season. The Cardinals were bounced in the wild-card round after an embarrassing performance against the Rams, but they might have regained their rhythm thanks to a comeback victory against the Raiders last week.
Who’s better? The Rams by a small margin because they’re hurting on the offensive line and in the secondary. The Cardinals, however, might not be able to capitalize on the Rams’ short-handed offensive line because they only have one sack this season, which belongs to star pass rusher J.J. Watt. But the Cardinals do have the weapons to expose the Rams’ thin secondary with speedy wideouts Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and Greg Dortch. The Rams will be without cornerback Troy Hill, but the Cardinals won’t have wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who is serving a six-game suspension to start the season.
Matchup to watch: Rams star defensive lineman Aaron Donald against Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, the pesky mobile quarterback who delivered arguably the best play of Week 2 after covering 85 yards of grass on a two-point conversion that took 21 seconds to develop. Donald likely won’t have trouble getting in Arizona’s backfield, but he might have fits with keeping the elusive Murray in the pocket. Donald and the rest of the Rams’ defensive line can increase their odds of winning Sunday by not allowing Murray to extend plays.
Rams win if: … Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is able to push the ball downfield. Stafford’s longest completion of the season is only 29 yards and he only has five passes of 20-plus yards in two games this season. The Cardinals’ secondary has struggled to keep wide receivers in front of them this season. The Rams’ receiving duo of Cooper Kupp and Allen Robinson isn’t known for speed, but this could be the game where they stretch the field vertically.
Fantasy sleeper: Rams tight end Tyler Higbee has two good things going for him from a fantasy football perspective. He has a league-high 20 targets among tight ends and he’s not splitting snaps, playing 95 percent of the Rams’ offensive snaps this season. Also, the Cardinals struggled against Kansas City’s Travis Kelce and Las Vegas’ Darren Waller. Higbee isn’t producing at their level, but he’s getting the targets and that’s all you can ask for if you’re one of the many fantasy football owners streaming tight ends on a weekly basis.
Prediction: The Rams’ injuries at multiple positions will keep the game close, but Coach Sean McVay will make the necessary adjustments to guide his team to a second-half rally against Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury. The Rams cover against the spread for the first time this season with a 33-27 road win.