As the Rams (8-4) head to the Cardinals (10-2) to wrap up NFL Week 14 on “Monday Night Football” (8:15 p.m. ET), they’ll be looking to stay healthy in the race. NFC West . The Cardinals took a two-game lead and held a head-to-head draw with only five weeks left to play
If Los Angeles wins, Arizona’s lead will drop to just one game. If Arizona wins, it increases the odds that lead to an unsurpassable three.
Matthew Stafford and Rams are about to have a fun game against the Jaguars. A fit Kyler Murray and the Cardinals had a good game against the Bears in Week 13. The defense was also capable of speaking with a lot of veteran players on that side.
Here’s everything there is to know about the Rams vs. Cardinals for Week 14, featuring updated odds, trends and our expert predictions for “Monday Night Football”.
Odds Rams vs. Cardinals for Monday Night Football
- Spread: Cardinals by 2
- On lower: 51.5
- Moneyine: Rams +116, Cardinals -135
The Cardinals have been less than goal-field lovers since the very first lines. They saw the number drop by half a point. This is essentially a pick game, with Arizona not even getting the full advantage of the home team.
(betting odds per FanDuel Sportsbook)
The All Time Series of Rams vs. Cardinals
The Rams have a 45-39-2 lead in the history of teams playing against each other in NFC, across years and cities. The Cardinals crushed the Rams 37-20 during the October 3 meeting in Los Angeles. Before that, the Rams were on a winning streak of 8 matches to take the lead in the series. The Cardinals are looking for their first two-game sweep in seven years.
Three trends to know
—58 percent of spread bettors are siding with the Rams to create a mean regression between the two best teams in the NFC West.
—56 percent of over/under bets are looking at quarterbacks and attacking firepower and going with high numbers is still too low.
—Los Angeles is just 4-6 by the odds and 6-4 in a row in the past 10 games. Four of those games are over. Arizona is 8-2 ATS and SU in the past 10 games with only half the results.
Three things to see
Sony is running
The Rams will again not have a top rerun Darrell Henderson (COVID-19) list but they should feel confident about the backup Sony Michel. Michel ran well against the Jaguars last week (121 yards, TD) and is more convinced by Sean McVay that he can count on the running game again to ease the pressure against Stafford. He can also help the Rams play with ball possession and set up more favorable knockdown shots.
Conner is running
James Conner became a powerful scoring and attacking machine in his first season with the Cardinals. He’s started from where he left off during his best days in Pittsburgh, with fellow Panthers or the NFL’s Steelers. He got great containment and was able to get an assist with the Chase Edmonds (ankle) that can be activated off the injured reserve. The Rams had a dangerous defensive pass but Conner ignited them in 50 quick dashes and 2 TDs in Week 4 while Edmonds roared for another 120 yards.
Kyler is running
Murray has been restricted from running as he faces an ankle injury that has caused him to miss a good chunk of the season. But he displayed some familiar speed and quickness against the Bears last week with two TDs rushing to match two TD passes. If he were to play more against the Rams defenders, he could have a big impact even with 8-10 engineered scrambles or runs.
Important Stats
205.1. That’s the average number of passes per game the Cardinals spend, good for 4th place in the NFL. They also have 32 sacks and 12 stoppers. They messed up in the first meeting, even though they didn’t have a sack with INT on Stafford. In general, they are very aggressive in being forced to learn. They should actively hope Stafford holds the ball long in search of big, lower percentage plays.
Predictions of Rams vs. Cardinals
The Rams will give the Cardinals a much better game than the first meeting with Stafford staying focused and the running game becoming a linking factor in facilitating the game’s passing. The Cardinals will keep their balance and continue to lean forward as Murray backs up Conner and possibly Edmonds as well. They also have more defensive players to make some important stops.
Cardinals 27, Rams 24
