Everyone in the NFC West is currently sitting at 1-1, and the Rams and Cardinals will square off in a big divisional matchup in Week 3. Both teams made it to the postseason last year, and the Rams eliminated the Cardinals in the Wild Card round before winning the Super Bowl. The teams split their two regular season contests, giving the Rams a 2-1 series win for the year.
The Rams and Cardinals may have the same record at the moment, but the way they’ve gotten there has been completely different. Both teams were throttled in Week 1 – the Rams by the Bills, the Cardinals by the Chiefs – and they bounced back with wins the following week. The Rams established a 28-3 lead over the Falcons before nearly blowing the game late, while the Cardinals slept through the first three quarters before Kyler Murray stole the game late.
Which team will grab a crucial early season win? Let’s dive into our top Rams vs. Cardinals predictions for this intreguing battle.
Rams vs. Cardinals Predictions
For my Rams vs. Cardinals predictions, I’ll place these wagers at BetFred Sportsbook.
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Rams vs. Cardinals Odds
| Team | Spread | Moneyline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rams | -3.5 (-105) | -180 | O 48.5 (-110) |
| @ Cardinals | +3.5 (-115) | +155 | U 48.5 (-110) |
Odds via BetFred as of 2 p.m. ET on Sept. 21
Game Info
- Date: Sunday, Sept. 25
- Time: 4:25 p.m. ET
- Location: State Farm Stadium (Glendale, AZ)
- TV: FOX
Rams vs. Cardinals Trends
- The Rams are 1-1 this season (0-2 against the spread).
- The Cardinals are 1-1 this season (1-1 against the spread).
- The Rams were 8-9 against the spread last year.
- The Cardinals were 10-7 against the spread last year.
- The Rams won the final two meetings against the Cardinals by a combined score of 64-34.
- Kyler Murray is 1-5 against the spread vs. the Rams in his career.
- The Rams are 1-4 in their last five contests as road favorites.
- The Cardinals are 7-1 against the spread in their last eight contests as underdogs.
- The Cardinals are 0-6 against the spread in their last six home games.
- As of Wednesday, DraftKings reports that 29% of the spread bets and 53% of the handle are on the Cardinals.
- For the total, 37% of the bets and 72% of the handle are on the under.
Are The Defending Champs In Trouble?
The Rams got absolutely embarrassed by the Bills on opening night. There’s certainly no shame in losing to the Bills, but losing by three touchdowns at home on the night you unveil your championship banner? It doesn’t get much worse than that.
They followed that up with a four-point win the following week at home vs. the lowly Falcons. They almost blew a 28-3 lead thanks to some costly turnovers, so it’s fair to have some questions about the Rams at this point in the year.
Still, I wouldn’t worry about last week’s results too much. It’s natural for a team to take their foot off the gas after building up a seemingly insurmountable lead, and the Falcons also had a blocked punt. That’s not going to happen every week. They still outgained the Falcons by a comfortable margin, especially during an uncompetitive first half.
Bears wide receivers have 7 receptions in two games. Cooper Kupp had 7 receptions across 8 minutes of gameplay against the Falcons yesterday.
— JJ Zachariason (@LateRoundQB) September 19, 2022
The Rams still have most of the pieces from last year’s championship squad, who thoroughly dominated the Cardinals in their final two matchups last year. They did lose Von Miller and Andrew Whitworth – which are massive losses – but they still have playmakers at all three levels on defense. The offense also still has Cooper Kupp, who remains absolutely unguardable. He’s currently ranked as Pro Football Focus’ No. 2 receiver after finishing first in that department last year.
Ultimately, the defending champs seem well equipped to make another run in the postseason.
Can Arizona Get Enough Stops?
Kyler Murray is electric, and he basically won last week’s game single-handedly. He had some breathtaking scrambles, including an epic two-point conversion where he traveled nearly 85 yards:
Kyler Murray traveled 84.9 yards on his successful two-point conversion scramble, the most distance traveled by an offensive ball-carrier on a two-point conversion attempt in the NGS era (since 2016).#AZvsLV | @AZCardinals pic.twitter.com/tGeZvMgjdn
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 18, 2022
Even without DeAndre Hopkins, Murray is enough to keep the Cardinals afloat on the offensive side of the ball.
The bigger question lies with the defense. The team lost Markus Golden and Chandler Jones from last year’s squad, who each had at least 10.5 sacks. No one else had more than 4.0 sacks last year, so they were easily the team’s top two pass-rushers.
That’s a big issue. The team still has J.J. Watt and Rashard Lawrence, but they’re simply not generating as much pressure this season. They were just slightly above league-average in adjusted sack rate last year, but they’ve dipped to 31st in that department in 2022-23. Overall, they have just one sack through their first two games.
The team’s secondary remains a question mark, so they need to get pressure up front to slow down opposing offenses. Without Golden and Jones, I’m not sure they can do it consistently.
Rams vs. Cardinals Predictions
This is simply a terrible matchup for them. The Rams’ biggest weakness so far this season has been their pass protection, and the Cardinals don’t have the players to take advantage. It should lead to another monster game for Kupp, who has started the year with back-to-back games of at least 100 yards and a touchdown.
On the other side of the ball, the Rams have historically had a pretty good answer for Murray. The Cardinals have also had minimal success throwing the ball this season without Hopkins, so they could struggle to keep up.
Ultimately, I’m going to side with the Rams given their historical domination in this rivalry. The fact that they nearly collapsed last week while the Cardinals came storming back also means both sides are probably not being valued properly by the public.
Pick: Rams -3.5 | -105 at BetFred Sportsbook