Sunday Afternoon – Los Angeles Rams at Arizona Cardinals

We head west on Sunday afternoon to see the Cardinals take on the LA Rams. There’s two ways this game will go: either they’ve both had good seasons and they’ll be contending with Seattle for the NFC West title or both teams are going to be out of it already in Week 13. I’m going with the latter. I think these teams will both take a step forward towards being contenders once again in 2017 and that’s why you need to watch this game. If nothing else, these teams have some terrific players that you need to see.

Keys to the Game

Rams

The Rams need to stifle that Arizona offense. Obviously, that’s easier said than done, but with the defensive talent LA has, anything is possible. That’s good because it’s going to take a mammoth effort in order to slow down the Cardinals’ super back David Johnson. He can do it on the ground and he can do it in the air, so LA’s front seven will have their hands full all game. But, if they can limit Johnson’s effectiveness, Arizona will be hard up for points all day long. That will lead to an easy win at home for LA.

Cardinals

Get David Johnson in space and let him run wild. He’s proven he can run over, through, around or by just about anyone on the field and he can be Arizona’s offense all by himself in this one. Of course a touchdown to Larry Fitzgerald might help open things up a bit, but if the Cardinals can get rolling and put 25-30 points on the board, the Rams will struggle to keep up. Todd Gurley showed last year that he can’t carry a team on his own and LA doesn’t have any other options for scoring. It will be game over in LA.