St. Louis Rams vs. Arizona Cardinals: Complete Week 10 Preview for Arizona
It’s Week 10, and the Arizona Cardinals have the best record in the NFL. At 7-1, the Cardinals hold a four-game lead over the last-place St. Louis Rams, who sit at 3-5.
But don’t let that record fool you. The Rams are better than it would appear, having just beaten the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers in the past three weeks.
Arizona’s offensive line will have its hands full this week, not only with St. Louis’ studly defensive ends, but with its interior linemen as well, which we will discuss in detail right here.
The Cardinals are coming off perhaps their best win of the 2014 season, a 28-17 gem over the Dallas Cowboys in Jerry’s World. Despite Dallas missing Tony Romo, who sat with a back injury, Arizona has to be happy with the victory. It could propel them the rest of the season.
Here is your in-depth preview of the Cardinals Week 10 matchup with the Rams.
Cardinals’ Week 9 Review
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Yes, the Cardinals missed Romo. Nonetheless, Arizona defensive coordinator Todd Bowles drew up a fantastic game plan to halt the Cowboys running game.
Running back DeMarco Murray, who entered play with an NFL-record eight-game 100-yard streak to start the season, had a rough day, carrying 19 times for 79 yards (4.2 yards per carry). Indeed, the Cardinals snapped Murray's streak, as I predicted they would two weeks before the game took place.
"I hope DeMarco rushes for 100+ again next week. Because it ends at 8 games. #BirdGang
— Shaun Church (@NFLChurch) October 20, 2014"
Granted, that was under the assumption Romo would play, as his back injury had not yet occurred when I made that prediction.
Anyway, the game was close until the fourth quarter, when the Cardinals typically pull away from teams. This season, only the Kansas City Chiefs (plus-37) have a better fourth-quarter points differential than do the Cardinals (plus-36).
With two fourth-quarter touchdowns, the Cardinals built a 28-10 lead. It ended at 28-17 after a garbage-time drive led to a Dez Bryant-touchdown reception from backup quarterback Brandon Weeden.
The run defense was stellar, Carson Palmer and the offense were efficient and the special teams were fantastic. If you win all three phases of a game, you’re going to emerge victorious more often than not.
News and Notes
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In my midseason report from this week, I posed this question: Are the Cardinals’ weaknesses a threat to derail the season? I did not include dropped passes as a weakness, but they easily could be categorized as such.
The Cardinals have dropped 14 passes this season, according to Pro Football Focus. While that’s not horrible, most of the drops have come at crucial times—mainly on third downs.
Head coach Bruce Arians is not pleased with his receivers, according to Kyle Odegard of AZCardinals.com:
"Catch the ball. Real simple. Just catch the ball. We dropped five balls again that cost us [last week]. It’s been critical now for three weeks. The drops were amazing sometimes. John Brown finally looked like a damn rookie on the in route where he was too far over the middle and drops it. Overall, they’re easily correctible.
"
Arizona leaves points on the field every week, mainly because of key drops like the one Brown had on third down against the Cowboys. As Arians said, it’s correctible. The quicker the issue is corrected, the better, because the schedule doesn’t get any easier over the rest of the season.
Palmer: Offense Not Firing on All Cylinders
The Cardinals have scored at least 23 points in six of eight games this season. They are 6-0 when they do so. Yet, Palmer believes the offense is not hitting on all cylinders, according to Kent Somers of AZCentral.com:
"I keep hearing about this roll we’re on. I don’t think we’ve hit it yet. It’s nice to win a bunch of games in a row, but we would really like to pick up some steam on offense, and have a handful of games where you just explode and really catch that roll. Then you’re firing on all cylinders...
I think we’ve done some good things. We’ve played against some good defenses and beat some good teams, but in no way are we satisfied, and in no way do we think this is all we have to do to win a Super Bowl.
"
Catching the ball better is part of that. A more consistent run game is another part of that. So are penalties. Numerous drives this season have come to a screeching halt because of offensive penalties. You can’t have that if you want to win a Super Bowl.
Palmer also has to be more consistent in getting the ball to his receivers. Since he returned from the shoulder injury that sidelined him for three games—four weeks in total—he has missed receivers short far more often than he had in his first 17 games with the team.
Speculation suggests the nerve in his shoulder could still be giving him trouble at times, because he’s better than that. There is no reason he should bounce a ball five yards in front of a receiver running a 15-yard dig or a 10-yard out.
Peterson’s Ankle Injury in the Past, Star 'Ready to Roll’
It came out Monday after the Cowboys game that cornerback Patrick Peterson had sprained his ankle in the Week 4 loss to the Denver Broncos. It affected how he was able to play, which may explain why he struggled for the past month.
He told Adam Green of ArizonaSports.com he is at full strength after receiving treatment:
"Being a cornerback, especially playing the style of football that I play, which is at the line of scrimmage, I have to move laterally often more than none, so the ankle injury definitely held me back a little bit. That injury was definitely holding me back for a couple of weeks.
But now that I’ve finally got my feet back under me, got the right, the proper treatment, I do feel that I am 100 percent and ready to roll from this point on out.
"
Peterson held Cowboys' star wideout Dez Bryant without a catch last week until the game was well in hand. The receiver ended up with two receptions—including a garbage-time touchdown—near the end of regulation, but by that time Peterson had done his job by making sure Bryant didn’t have any impact on the game.
Birdgang Boo-Boo Brigade
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| Player | Position | Injury | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Game Day |
| Lorenzo Alexander | OLB | Knee | DNP | LP | FP | Probable |
| Marcus Benard | OLB | Illness | DNP | LP | FP | Probable |
| Desmond Bishop | ILB | Hamstring | - | DNP | DNP | Out |
| Andre Ellington | RB | Foot | LP | LP | LP | Probable |
| Larry Foote | ILB | Knee | FP | FP | FP | Probable |
| Bobby Massie | RT | Ankle/Knee | DNP | LP | FP | Probable |
| Ed Stinson | DE | Groin | - | - | LP | Questionable |
| Stepfan Taylor | RB | Calf | DNP | DNP | DNP | Out |
All injury statuses gathered from AZCardinals.com
X-Factors and Matchups to Watch
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Ted Larsen and Paul Fanaika vs. Aaron Donald and Michael Brockers
File this one under “Things I have to watch but don’t really want to watch.”
If ever there were a time for Arians to make the switch and start Jonathan Cooper at one of the guard spots, this week would be a fantastic choice.
Larsen is simply horrible. He has been all season. A follower on Twitter suggested he could get better deeper into the season, but that’s just not going to be the case. Larsen is what he is, which is a backup center starting at left guard over the team’s top-10 pick, who is healthy and, by all accounts, back to his old self.
It’s baffling.
Fanaika has allowed more pressure per snap, but he’s also been dealing with a knee injury most of the season. That also begs the question: Why not replace him with Cooper so he has time to heal?
Donald is a rookie but has firmly entrenched himself into the best defensive front in the NFL, notching three sacks in his first eight games. He is a big part of what the Rams do defensively, and he will wreak havoc on Sunday. So will Brockers, who has been a thorn in the side of Cardinals guards since he came into the league in 2012.
Pray, Cardinals fans. Pray.
Patrick Peterson vs. Tavon Austin
Peterson has historically performed better against bigger, stronger receivers because they play to his primary strength—a physical, bruising style of football. Where he struggles is against smaller, shiftier receivers who don’t mess around with getting physical.
In theory, beating smaller receivers shouldn’t be difficult. If Peterson initiates contact off the line to knock Austin off his route—in football terms, that’s called “chucking the receiver”—he should have an easy day simply being a bully.
That’s not always what Peterson does, however. He’s one of the faster cornerbacks in the league, and he tends to test speedy receivers. That’s when he gets into trouble, because though he is fast, he cannot match the change-of-direction speed smaller receiver such as Austin have.
Peterson wants to show the world he’s a changed player after ankle and head injuries. Shutting down Bryant last week was Phase 1 of proving he's changed, and he passed with flying colors.
Austin would be Phase 2.
X-Factor of the Week: Chandler Catanzaro
Chances are the Cardinals will need their rookie kicker at some point this week. Last week was the first game this season in which Catanzaro did not attempt a field goal. Given the fact the Rams have a bend-but-don’t-break defense, Arizona should be within Catanzaro’s range at least once against St. Louis.
Two of the Rams’ three wins this season were by three or fewer points in games featuring a missed field goal by the opposition—including last week’s stunner over the 49ers.
The Cardinals have won the special teams matchup all season, and this is a great week to win it again.
Prediction
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St. Louis is playing good defensive football right now. Since Week 7, only the Minnesota Vikings (16) have more sacks than the Rams (13).
But all the teams they have played over the past three weeks have shaky offensive lines.
That also could be said of the Cardinals, since their guard play has been atrocious this season. But the offensive line has allowed only 13 sacks this season. That’s the fewest an Arizona line has allowed through eight games since it allowed only eight in 2007.
It’s the third-fewest allowed by a Cardinals line since the team moved to Arizona.
The Rams sacked 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick eight times last week. What’s crazy? Five of those sacks came when St. Louis did not blitz.
This game is about more than the Rams pass rush and whether the Cardinals can stop it, of course. It’s also about getting the ball to running back Andre Ellington.
The Rams struggle in stopping the run this season, allowing 4.60 yards per carry and eight touchdowns. They are one of only seven teams with a yards-per-carry allowed average above 4.50—last week’s opponent, Dallas, is another, and Ellington carried 21 times for 94 yards (4.47 YPC) in that game.
While Ellington will be important, something to watch is the streak Palmer is on. He has thrown at least two touchdowns in six straight games, which is the second-longest active streak in the NFL. Only Peyton Manning’s NFL-record 14 straight games is longer.
Palmer should tear apart St. Louis’ secondary if given time. The Rams have the 31st-ranked passing defense in the league, allowing 12 touchdown passes, a 69.9 percent completion percentage and a 104.8 opponent passer rating on the season. The Rams have only three interceptions.
Pay attention when Arizona is in third-down situations on offense. The Rams are one of six teams to allow an average of more yards than average to-go yardage, and they’ve allowed six third-down touchdowns. Arians might try to take advantage of St. Louis’ aggressiveness in a key situation.
When it comes down to it, Catanzaro should have an impact on this game. He’s been automatic so far this season, so that bodes well for the Cardinals. This could be a closer game than some expect, so don’t get bent out of shape if the Cardinals win but by only a field goal or so.
Prediction: Cardinals 20, Rams 17
All stats gathered from Pro-Football-Reference.com unless otherwise stated
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