setting up the Arizona playoff game (us, the media, etc.)

I agree.

I haven’t seen the Packers or Bucs play much, but I have heard radio blabbers say they are vulnerable. The Packers, I think, have the edge. They have home field advantage. They’ve been consistent. And their QB is pretty good. 4 INTs all year, I think I saw.

The Bucs have some injuries.

And the 49ers are just pretty good. Weaker secondary and QB play, but very good everywhere else. And they are coached goodly.

The Rams will beat AZ. But I don’t see them winning 4 in a row. I don’t see them winning 3 in a row. I’m hoping for 2. Get to the championship. I would take that result pretty gladly.

zn wrote:

As of right now they look like a playoff team but not a super bowl team.

yup.

maybe i’m wrong. but it seems to me that this oline isn’t good enough. and the team in general is not physical enough.

Zooey wrote:

Agamemnon wrote:

We can beat the Cowboys. They are a suckie team.

Not much chance of the Rams meeting up with Dallas. It would be in the NFC Championship. Unless the Eagles beat Tampa.

Some lucky team will get to play Dallas.

zn wrote:

I agree that there will be a lot of talk, and rightfully.

Personally? I can be patient. They have the stars on offense and defense, they just need to be a more consistently effective team. If they don’t do it this year, I have reasonable expectations they can do it in one of the following years.

That’s what I think, too.

Losing to the Cardinals would be pretty bitter, though. I don’t think I would shake that off very quickly, and given the expectations for the season, I will consider that a very bad end to the season. “Disaster” would be overstating it. Disaster would have been missing the playoffs altogether without a clear injury excuse.

Got puter issues, need new hard drive, so I may
not check in for a bit. Might be fixed soon, not sure though.

Anyway, Cards will win. Rams OLine is just not right. Its ok, but
its not playoff-team-ok.

Worst personnel decision in five years — tutu, instead of OLine.

Also, losing Robert Woods was just huge. Odell is a nice, talented toy, and can do some stuff Kupp and Woods cant — but he aint Woods, and they need Woods.

Also a few weak links at LB and secondary. Just enough to
cost the rams against top teams.

I also think we will find out Stafford was a lot more
hurt than the are letting on. I just dont believe you go from
his first-half-of-the-season numbers to the second-half-of-the-season-numbers without ‘some’ change. Yes, the Oline has faltered, but i think the old-vet has also gotten a bit bulgerized.

So. Rams Lose. Media blames it all on Stafford.
“Never won a playoff game” “Rams went all IN and are now total-busts”

Blah blah.

And next year, the could still win a Ring.

w
v

URL = https://arizonasports.com/story/2964749/cardinals-go-into-wild-card-game-with-1-9-record-vs-rams-sean-mcvay/

Cardinals go into Wild Card game with 1-9 record vs. Rams’ Sean McVay

BY JAKE ANDERSON
Arizona Sports

Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay has owned the Arizona Cardinals.

His record against his NFC West division rival speaks for itself.

Since taking over at the helm of the Rams in 2017, McVay is a whopping 9-1 against the Cardinals.

And since head coach Kliff Kingsbury took over in 2019, Arizona is 1-5 against Los Angeles.

However, the lone Cardinals win came this season with a 37-20 victory in Week 4 at SoFi Stadium, where Arizona will play the Rams in the Wild Card round on Monday.

Of the six games Kingsbury has coached against McVay over three seasons, two have been one-score games and both were the second matchups of the season (2019, 2021).

Last year’s regular-season finale — which basically served as a playoff game in Week 17 — featured both teams’ backup quarterbacks in Chris Streveler and John Wolford. It ended in an 18-7 Rams victory. A Cardinals win would have clinched the first postseason berth for Kingsbury and quarterback Kyler Murray.

A common theme in five of the six games between Kingsbury and McVay isn’t an anomaly: Whoever runs the most plays and wins the turnover battle has won the game, with the only outlier being the aforementioned double-backup QB contest to end last year.

In those five matchups that went with the turnover battle, Murray has thrown for a combined six interceptions compared to only two picks thrown by Rams quarterbacks, which is split evenly between Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff. The Cardinals also fumbled the ball four times compared to the Rams’ two.

A commonality that took place in 2021 is that Arizona ran more plays, outgained and out-possessed L.A. in each meeting.

The Cardinals put up 465 yards on 75 plays in over 35 minutes of possession while Los Angeles garnered 401 yards on 64 plays in just under 25 minutes in the lone victory over the Rams for Kingsbury and Murray. Los Angeles fumbled once and Stafford threw one interception while Arizona kept the golden goose egg in the turnover column in Week 4.

But in Week 14’s 30-23 loss at State Farm Stadium, the Cardinals’ 447 total yards of offense on 75 plays wasn’t enough as Murray threw two picks. Meanwhile, the Rams didn’t turn the ball over. Los Angeles also only needed to run 54 plays on offense to gain 356 total yards, 267 of which came through the air.

If history has taught us anything about when these two division rivals meet — especially under Kingsbury and McVay — it’s that the team that can take care of the football and not give up points off turnovers will most likely be advancing to the NFC Divisional round.

The Cardinals face the Rams in the Wild Card round at 6:15 p.m. on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.

URL = https://www.si.com/nfl/rams/news/rams-cardinals-deandre-hopkins-jj-watt-wild-card-round-nfl-playoffs

Cardinals’ DeAndre Hopkins Not Available to Make Return vs. Rams, J.J. Watt’s Status Remains in Question
What do DeAndre Hopkins and J.J. Watt’s availability look like for the Wild Card Round against the Rams?

NICHOLAS COTHRELJAN 12, 2022

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Deandre Hopkins will not be making his return to the field on Monday against the Los Angeles Rams for the Wild Card Round matchup, coach Kliff Kingsbury told reporters on Wednesday.

Hopkins continues his recovery process from a knee injury that required surgery following the Cardinals’ Week 14 loss to the Rams at State Farm Stadium.

During Hopkins’ absence, the Cardinals have relied on A.J. Green, Christian Kirk and Zach Ertz as their core group of pass-catchers to carry the load. Ertz, a trade deadline pickup, has appeared to develop a strong bond in catching passes from quarterback Kyler Murray this season, registering 574 yards and three touchdowns after his arrival to his new club.

As for pass-rusher J.J. Watt, who suffered a shoulder injury during the Cardinals’ Week 7 win over the Houston Texans – his game status sits in question. The Cardinals are hopeful he can go through practice this week but will have a better gauge of where he’s at in making his return as things further progress closer to game-day, Kingsbury said.

Watt told reporters Wednesday he won’t be suiting up if he’s physically not ready enough to do his job properly, so monitoring his status per the injury report will give insight as to how much he’s involved throughout each day’s practice.

The Cardinals suffered a severe dropoff down the final stretch of the season after getting off to a 7-1 start. The subtractions of Watt and Hopkins – two stars on each side of the ball – played into their downhill spiral, having to rely on other players to step up into more prominent roles.

The Rams and Cardinals split the season series during the regular season, each winning as the road team. Kickoff for the Rams and Cardinals Wild Card game is scheduled for Monday at 5:15 p.m. PT at SoFi Stadium.

Colin’s Blazin’ 5

I think he’s right about NE covering in Buffalo.

I think that they’re going beat the Bills…