Hello, Ramily!!! Wooh Wooh, we are back on the wagon. Welcome to this week’s edition of talking touchdowns. The Rams had a HUGE victory over the Saints on Sunday. But now, it is time for a divisional match up against Cardinals and I’ve got a few notes about the game.
Los Angeles Rams vs. Arizona Cardinals
The Rams had an awesome showing this past Sunday at the Coliseum where they snapped the Saints eight game win streak and walked away with the 26-20 victory. Even without star receiver Robert Woods, the offense managed to do a lot of good things. Jared Goff had himself a day where he went 28 of 43 for 354 yards and two touchdowns.
Last week, I talked about Cooper Kupp’s struggles, well struggle no more for Cooper. He had 116 yards on eight receptions. Sammy Watkins also picked things up for the offense with 84 yards on four receptions and one touchdown. Rookie Josh Reynolds got some playing time this week, and he showed what he can do with 65 yards on five receptions and one touchdown. Overall, the rams offense look polished, patient and ready for the Saints defense.
The Rams defense looked pretty darn good despite being without their two starting corners. We knew that the Rams were going to have to stop the run as much as possible and slow down this Drew Brees led offense.
The Rams were able to hold Mark Ingram to 31 yards on 11 carries, but they did allow Alvin Kamara 87 yards on five carries and one touchdown. Other than, I thought the defense played well. It is extremely tough to go up against a veteran quarterback like Drew Brees, who does extremely well in the fourth quarter and they were able to make the stop.
A solid win for the Rams and I would just like to say that the Rams are having a winning season for the first time since 2003! That’s right people; its been a long wait. But time to turn all of our attention to the Bird Gang as the Rams hit the road to Arizona.
The Cardinals are coming off a stunning victory over the AFC South leading Jaguars and seem to have gotten a boost from their new starting quarterback Blaine Gabbert who has filled in nicely for the injured Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton. Gabbert is completing 61% of his passes this year with five TD passes and three interceptions.
Since the Cardinals’ two starting quarterbacks went down, this Bruce Arians led team has become a more balanced offense than we’ve seen in years past. The offensive weapons in Larry Fitzgerald, Adrian Peterson, JJ Nelson and rookie tight end Ricky Seals-Jones have been steady, but they have recently made an increased effort to run the ball and take pressure off their quarterbacks because the one real weakness of this team has been their quarterback play.
The Rams have faced far superior offensive teams so far this year and have fared extremely well, so it will be important this week to stop Adrian Peterson from establishing an early rushing attach, so they can put Blaine Gabbert in clear passing situations where they can they rush the passer and potentially force an inexperienced quarterback into making poor decisions and turn the ball over.
As for the Cardinals defense, they have not been quite as dominant this year as they’ve been in years past, but that is also somewhat in part to their offenses struggles to sustain drives and keep the defense off the field. They still have all pro caliber talents on defense in corners Patrick Peterson and Tyron Mathieu, but lack the depth in the front 7 to be an elite defense like they have been in recent years…which brings us back to the Rams.
As always, the Rams go as Todd Gurley goes and this Cardinals defense has been susceptible to getting gashed in the run game, so if the Rams can continue establishing a balanced run/pass attack, they should be able to put up plenty of points against this defense.
Game Prediction
Yes, of course I’m giving the guys in the Blue and Gold the win. I’m sorry Cardinals Fangirl Sande; I’m just feeling like the Rams will be walking away with the win and 9-3 on the Season.
[NFL-Rams-footer]Photo Credits:
- Los Angeles Rams on Wikimedia Commons by SportsLogos.net
- Jared Goff on wikimedia commons by Jeffrey Beall
- Mark Ingram on Flickr by Keith Allison
- Drew Brees on flickr by Brook Ward
- Arizona Cardinals on Wikimedia Commons by Moe Epsilon
- Jackson Jaguars on Wikimedia by SportsLogos.net
- Larry Fitzgerald on flickr by Brook Ward
- Patrick Peterson on wikimedia commons by Jeffrey Beall
- Tyrann Mathieu on flickr by Gage Skidmore
- Todd Gurley on flickr by Christina VanMeter
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