LA Rams (8-4) at Arizona (10-2)
When: Monday, December 13th 2021
Where: State Farm Stadium,
Glendale, AZ
Time: 8:20 ET | TV: ESPN
Opening Odds: Arizona -2.5/52.5
Week 14 of the NFL schedule concludes with a great NFC West matchup Monday night as the Arizona Cardinals host the Los Angeles Rams from Glendale, Az. The Cardinals can all but put away the division with a victory and also inch closer to getting home field advantage throughout the postseason. The Rams currently trail Arizona by two games with five games left and can make things interesting if they were to pull of the victory Monday. L.A. snapped a three-game skid last week with an easy 37-7 triumph at home over the hapless Jacksonville Jaguars. The team had also failed to cover a spread in five straight contests dating back to the middle of October. Quarterback Matthew Stafford was much better after a shaky three games for L.A. There are reports that Stafford is playing through multiple injuries, he has not admitted to being physically restricted.
We do know that Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray was hurt and he came back from a three-game absence because of an ankle injury to lead the Cardinals to a 33-22 road win over the Chicago Bears. It was Arizona’s seventh double-digit road victory on the season and they have one more at Dallas on Jan. 2. Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins also returned from a three-game absence and had a touchdown reception, while the defense added four interceptions while coming off the bye week. The Cardinals lead the Green Bay Packers by one game in the race for the No. 1 seed in the NFC entering Week 14. While the Cardinals are 7-0 on the road, they are just 3-2 at home and haven’t defeated the Rams in Glendale since 2014. In Week 4, the Cardinals rolled to a 37-20 victory at Los Angeles behind 268 passing yards and two touchdowns by Murray. The favorite is 8-1-1 against the spread in the past 10 meetings.
Wide receiver Cooper Kupp continues to make Stafford look better than he probably is. The potential NFL Offensive Player of the Year had eight catches for 129 yards and a TD and leads the NFL in receptions (100), yards (1,365) and TD catches (11). He is the fourth player in history with at least 100 catches in the first 12 games of a season and the only player with at least 100 receptions and 10 or more touchdown receptions in his team’s first 12 games. Van Jefferson and Odell Beckham Jr. also caught a touchdown pass. Top running back Darrell Henderson was active but didn’t play due to a thigh injury and Sony Michel carried 24 times for 121 yards and a score. In the first meeting with Arizona in Week 4, Stafford tossed two touchdowns but had a pick to go with 280 passing yards on 26-of-41 completions. The Rams had three sacks in the first meeting with Arizona but struggled to stop the run.
Last week, Murray became the fourth-youngest player in NFL history to reach 10,000 yards passing in the win over Chicago. He now has 13 career games with both a passing and rushing TD since entering the NFL in 2019 – tied with the Cowboys’ Dak Prescott for the third-most such games by a quarterback in his first three seasons. The Cardinals became the third team ever to win seven consecutive road games by a least 10 points in a single season. Murry scorched the Rams in Week 4 with 268 passing yards and two touchdowns and zero interceptions on 23-of-32 completions. Chase Edmonds rushed for 120 yards on 12 carries in that contest, and will probably make his return Monday after a long absence. The Cardinals are 8-2 against the spread in their last 10 games overall.
I really like the Cardinals here. They not only dominated L.A. in the first meeting, but they keep getting disrespected by the oddsmakers. Stafford has never proven he can win a big game in his life and Arizona will force him to make mistakes like they did in the first meeting. I’ll lay the points here.
Pick: Cardinals -2.5
Week 14 Staff Selections
