Arizona Cardinals vs. St. Louis Rams: What's the Game Plan for Arizona?

The Arizona Cardinals will hope to avoid a repeat of their Week 4 performance when they face the Rams in St. Louis on Sunday afternoon.

An uncharacteristically sloppy effort from the Cardinals caused them to drop the first meeting of the season between the two teams. The glib, one-line blueprint for Arizona for the rematch could very well be this: "Do the opposite of everything you did in Week 4."

Let's take a look back at what went wrong for Arizona in its 24-22 loss at home against the Rams, and see what it means for Sunday's game.

Offensive Game Plan

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A lot went wrong for Arizona in its first meeting with the Rams, and many of the issues were self-inflicted. Here are some of the key numbers from that game:

Turnovers	3	Two fumbles, one interception
Red Zone	1-of-5	One touchdown, five field goals for the game
Sacks	4	Two from DBs, one from LB, one from DL
TFL	9	Cardinals still managed 5.4 yards per carry
QB Hits	10	Long day for Carson Palmer

The first two categories are correctable, the latter three are probably something the Cardinals offense will have to live with.

St. Louis has a talented, aggressive defense, so the Cardinals will hopefully come into Sunday's game with ball security on their collective mind. In that first meeting, David Johnson coughed up the opening kickoff, Carson Palmer got picked off in the end zone throwing into double coverage and Larry Fitzgerald was stripped after a 22-yard gain.

More concerning is the red zone offense issue, the first cracks of which appeared in that Week 4 game. Arizona still doesn't appear to have a steady plan once it gets inside the 20-yard line, and one can only hope the insertion of Johnson into the lineup will help right that ship. The rookie leads the team with eight touchdowns.

As for the offensive line, what more can be said at this point? They're regressing in a hurry, and St. Louis boasts as much talent as any team up front. It's going to be a challenging day for Palmer, and Johnson will have to prove his worth picking up blitzers. 

Defensive Game Plan

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There are two players to watch out for on the Rams offense: Tavon Austin and Todd Gurley. Arizona failed to contain either player in Week 4.

Austin had six catches for 96 yards and two touchdowns, while also adding another 20 yards on the ground. Gurley totaled 146 yards on 19 carries.

Interestingly enough, we can see what both of those things looked like in this one still frame from Week 4:

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As you can see, half of the Cardinals defense is ready to stop Austin on the end around, but he never touches the ball. Instead, Gurley attacks the weak side of the formation for a big gain.

Balance isn't something we talk about a lot, but it's going to be key for Arizona on Sunday. The Cardinals can't let Austin or Gurley unbalance their formation horizontally or vertically, or the other player will make them pay.

If the defense gets stretched horizontally by Austin, Gurley will have big running lanes. If the defense gets scrunched vertically trying to stop Gurley in the box, Austin will find open pockets in the passing game.

Key Players and Matchups

David Johnson

This is an easy one, as the rookie is making his first career start.

Chris Johnson was resurgent in the first half of the season, but he tailed off in recent weeks, thanks in part to the shoddy play of Arizona's offensive line. Can the rookie Johnson re-energize the Cardinals running game?

More importantly, can he help the offensive line protect Carson Palmer? If Johnson's blocking isn't up to par, Stepfan Taylor and Kerwynn Williams could see increased playing time.

Calais Campbell

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Campbell's been a bit quiet this season, hasn't he? Tyrann Mathieu may be the reigning NFC defensive player of the month, but Campbell is likely still the Cardinals most important player on defense.

Through Week 12, the defensive end has only 1.5 sacks, putting him on pace for his lowest total since his rookie season. He notched one tackle for a loss against San Francisco last week, his first since Week 7.

Those aren't the only numbers that define defensive linemen, but with the unit depleted through injury, Arizona could sure use a breakout game from Campbell on Sunday.

Ted Larsen

Bruce Arians made the bold decision this week to replace Jonathan Cooper in the starting lineup with Ted Larsen, and it could prove to be a poor gamble. Cooper, the seventh-overall selection in the 2013 draft, hasn't been great, but neither has Larsen.

Larsen filled in for an injured Cooper against San Francisco, and his numbers weren't pretty. According to Pro Football Focus, Larsen was responsible for one QB hit and three QB hurries, the latter of which led the team. On the day, he earned a -4.9 grade, worst on the team. 

St. Louis offers up a much bigger challenge for Larsen, who could see extended time tangling with the uber-destructive Aaron Donald. 

Prediction

Arizona's going to enter this game with two lackluster performances fresh in their mind: the Week 4 loss against the Rams and the ugly win over San Francisco last week. With that being the case, it's hard to imagine Arizona lacking for intent on Sunday afternoon.

Despite the woeful performance in Week 4, Arizona didn't struggle moving the football at home against the Rams. Carson Palmer threw for 352 yards, and they picked up 113 yards on the ground.

While Arizona is unlikely to have the same success on the ground, they should still rack up the yardage. And this time, they won't shoot themselves in the foot with turnovers.

The real fireworks could come on defense. Rams quarterback Nick Foles has thrown four interceptions in his last two outings and hasn't thrown a touchdown in more than a month. It has been a minute since Arizona's secondary has thrown themselves a party, hasn't it?

Come Sunday afternoon in the desert, Arizona's recent uninspired play will be nothing more than a memory.

Final score: Arizona 28, St. Louis 13