Two NFC West rivals will meet on Thursday Night football, when the division leading Arizona Cardinals, travel to St. Louis, to take on the red hot Rams.
Ready to bet on NFL Football? Skybook offers the best football betting odds and live football betting lines. Register now to get huge bonuses on your deposit and win big betting on the NFL. Don't forget to come back to read our NFL matchups and Teams information to stay updated during the season.
Arizona Cardinals (10-3) vs. St. Louis Rams (6-7), Thursday, December 11, 8:30 PM. ET. NFL.
The Arizona Cardinals started the season as the hottest team in the NFL, but injuries have slowed them down in recent weeks, and they have now lost two out of their last three games, and are in danger of losing their division lead. The injury to Carson Palmer has been especially difficult for the team to overcome, because he was playing very well this season, but the Cardinals aren't complaining, they are rolling with the punches as they come.
The Rams have also dealt with injury to their starting quarterback this season, and like the Cardinals, they didn't dwell on it, and give up on their season, they have played hard and are in a position to finish with their first winning season since 2003, if they can win their remaining three games.
The Cardinals will have a tough time against the Rams in this game, because the Rams have played very well at home this season, defeating the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos there this season. They have also been playing very well on defense, and, have pitched two straight shutouts, defeating the Oakland Raiders and Washington Redskins by a combined score of 76-0.
The Cardinals have lost their last two games on the road pretty convincingly, and will have to play at a very high level to get the win in St. Louis. They started Kerwynn Williams last week against the Kansas City Chiefs, due to the injury to Andre Ellington, and he responded with over 100 yards on 19 carries, which is something they are hoping he can do again this week, against the Rams.
Drew Stanton also played well against the Chiefs, he threw for 293 yards, 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions, which was an improvement over his recent performances, but he still needs to work on his accuracy, because he completed only 50 percent of his passes on Sunday. If he can avoid committing any silly turnovers, the Cardinals will have a good chance of winning this game.
Tre Mason has emerged as the go to running back for the Rams in recent weeks, with two 100 yard games in four weeks, and is gradually becoming a better pass blocker, which has earned him more playing time. The Rams will be expecting another big game from him, because the Cardinals allowed the Chiefs to average 7.4 yards per carry on Sunday, and if the Rams can get close to tat average, they will be in a good position to win the game.
An effective running game will allow Shaun Hill, who has thrown 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions in the last two games to find his open receivers with play action fakes, especially against the Cardinals secondary, which is allowing opposing quarterbacks to average over 300 yards in their last two games.
Game line: The Rams are favored to win this game by 4.5 points, the Over/Under is 39.5 points.
Personal Pick: The Rams will win a very close game at home.
