Projected Line: St Louis by 1 point
Even though Arizona is undefeated after four games and the Rams are generally a synonym of bad football over the last few seasons, the truth is that I believe St Louis have an excellent shot of having a huge win today on their only National TV game of the season.
Arizona may have a 4-0 record, but they are a team with a bunch of problems right now. With Beanie Wells in the IR and with LaRob Stephens-Howling questionable for tonight with a hip injury, the Cardinals have lost their depth on the running game and the result of that was a total of 28 rushing yards against Miami last week. With the running game being non-existent, Kevin Kolb is forced to take more risks in the passing game and he isn't solid enough to do that without avoiding some bad passes that can easily turn into turnovers, especially against a Rams team that has intercepted eight times the ball over the first four games of the season. And if this wasn't enough, the Offensive Line also messed up big time last week, with Kevin Kolb being sacked eight times. With the Cardinals being on a short week road trip and with problems in both the rushing and the passing game, I believe an improved St Louis defense will be able to stop the Cardinals' offense, especially with Cortland Finnegan ready to cover Larry Fitzgerald very well tonight.
On the other hand, the Rams offense might not be great, but they should be able to have a decent production tonight. Not only they have a good spot over a tired Cardinals defense coming from an OT game in a short week, as Arizona allowed a lot of big plays to the Dolphins pass offense, who is very far from being known for their ability of producing a lot of yardage. They made Ryan Tannehill look like Peyton Manning at times and this isn't a good sign for tonight, as they had little time to correct the issues they had last Sunday. Sam Bradford may not be a great quarterback, but he isn't terrible neither and he is capable of the occasional big play. Steven Jackson has been limited with a groin injury, but he should also be able to have a somewhat decent performance tonight against a Cardinals' run defense that isn't nothing special. St Louis has a clear problem with their Offensive Line, but they are coming from a good performance against the Seahawks' super quick pass rush where they allowed just two sacks, so I believe they won't be terrible tonight against an Arizona pass rush that has quality, but won't be physically at 100%, with DT Dan Williams and LB Paris Lenon questionable for tonight. Therefore, I actually believe the Rams will be able to do something out of their average offense tonight.
Not only I expect Arizona to have some issues on offense tonight and the Rams to do something decent on their offense, as St Louis has an excellent rookie kicker, who is coming from kicking two field goals from 58 and 60 yards last Sunday, in a clear sign that he can score points for his team from very far in the field, something that will really help the Rams in a game that is expected to be a close low scoring contest. I believe the Cardinals may have a perfect record, but they are far from being perfect, with the Rams having the motivation (their only National TV game of the season!), the spot (St Louis with a home-home spot, Arizona with a home-road short week trip) and the matchup to give the Cardinals their first loss of the season. Therefore, I'll be taking the Rams tonight for a rare moment of glory for them.
Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 302 St Louis Rams (+3) @ -140 / 1.71 on 5Dimes
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