National Football League

Cardinals' heavy diet of NFC West foes begins with Rams

Published Nov. 7, 2014 3:45 p.m. ET

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TEMPE, Ariz. -- When the 2014 season began, Bruce Arians said what many coaches say when asked about the relative strength of their division: He said it was the best in the NFL.

Arians had more support for that opinion than most coaches. The Seahawks were the defending Super Bowl champions, the 49ers had been to three straight NFC Championship games, the Cardinals missed the playoffs with a 10-6 record and the Rams had an emerging defense that could make life tough on any quarterback.

The first half of 2015 hasn't played out as predicted. The NFC West is 19-13 overall. That's still the second-best record of any division behind the AFC North's 22-13-1 record (no byes yet). But the NFC North has the same record as the West against the rest of the NFC (14-9) and there is a good chance that only one NFC team will make the playoffs this season if the Seahawks (5-3) or 49ers (4-4) don't get their act together.  

That surprises Arians.

"I thought that within the division we'd all beat each other up some," he said. "But I'm surprised that we've lost some games out of the division."

Take away the Cardinals' perfect 5-0 mark against the NFC and the West is a mediocre 9-9 within its conference. St. Louis' injuries, San Francisco's internal problems and Seattle's Super Bowl hangover all contributed to this mini-slide. But there is still half a season to play and, as the Rams (3-5) have proven in two of the last three weeks, the West is still a dangerous place to play.

RAMS (3-5) at CARDINALS (7-1)

When: 2:25 p.m. Sunday
Where: University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale
TV: FOX (Chris Myers, Ronde Barber, Jennifer Hale)  
Radio: KTAR 98.7 FM (Dave Pasch, Ron Wolfley, Paul Calvisi)
Spanish radio: KVVA 107.1 FM (Gabrielle Trujillo, Rolandu Cantu)

2014 offense rankings: The Rams are 28th overall at 318.5 yards per game (25th passing, 217.6 yards; 22nd rushing, 100.9 yards, 28th scoring, 18.6 points). The Cardinals are 23rd overall at 330.4 yards per game (16th passing, 239.9 yards; 28th rushing, 90.5 yards, 14th scoring, 24 points).

2014 defense rankings: The Rams are 17th overall at 361.5 yards per game (8th in passing, 225.3 yards; 29th rushing, 136.3 yards, 27th scoring, 27.5 points). The Cardinals are 19th overall at 366.4 yards per game (32nd passing, 286.8 yards; 3rd rushing, 79.6 yards, 5th scoring, 19.5 points).

INJURY REPORT

Cardinals: RB Stepfan Taylor (calf) and LB Desmond Bishop (hamstring) are out. DL Ed Stinson (groin) is questionable. LB Lorenzo Alexander (knee), LB Marcus Benard (illness), RT Bobby Massie (knee/ankle), RB Andre Ellington (foot) and LB Larry Foote (back) are probable.

Rams: LB Darren Bates (groin) is out. S Cody Davis (concussion), CB Janoris Jenkins (knee) and CB Marcus Roberson (ankle) are questionable. LB Jo-Lonn Dunbar (toe), CB E.J. Gaines (knee), TE Cory Harkey (knee), DE William Hayes (fibula), S Rodney McLeod (knee) are probable.

WHAT'S AT STAKE?

Maintaining a comfortable cushion over the Seahawks and the other challengers in the NFC for the top seed (Philadelphia, Dallas and Detroit).

OUTLOOK

The Rams have wins over the Seahawks and 49ers already in NFC West play, but this isn't a good matchup for them. Their run defense is awful, their QB is inexperienced and they don't score much. The Cardinals will blitz often, shut down the run and shut down the Rams' offense. On the other side, Andre Ellington could have a big day.

PREDICTION

Arizona 30, St. Louis 13

With quarterback Sam Bradford, left tackle Jake Long and defensive end Chris Long all out of the lineup, the Rams beat Seattle and San Francisco, helping put both of those teams in situations where they have to start winning.

"I didn't expect Seattle to have three losses right now, but three losses won't kill you," defensive end Calais Campbell said. "If they get on a winning streak right now they'll easily be right where they want to be when they're playing us. And I expect them to do that."

A quirk of the schedule had the Cardinals playing just one division opponent over the first eight games of the season, but that changes now. Five of the Cardinals' final eight opponents are NFC West foes, starting with Sunday's game against the Rams and ending with three straight NFC West games.

"These are the important games," Campbell said. "Division games are the games you need to win to set yourself up for the playoffs."

By starting 7-1, the Cardinals have given themselves a little bit of cushion. They lead the Seahawks by two games, the 49ers by three and the Rams by four. That was the goal all along, but the cushion will only matter if they take care of business over the second half of the season.

That starts with the St. Louis game. Arians has been letter perfect in games the Cardinals were supposed to win. This is one of those. 

"I don't really believe in cushions," Campbell said. "No matter what our situation is today, if we lose and those other teams win, it could change tomorrow. We haven't played many division games yet so we have to stay focused and treat these games like each one is going to make all the difference to what we want to accomplish."

RB Andre Ellington: Is this the week Ellington finally tops the 100-yard mark in rushing? He's had one, 100-yard rushing game in his two seasons. That came on Oct. 27 against Atlanta when he had 154. The Rams rushing defense is allowing 136.3 yards per game; 29th in the NFL.   

The Cardinals blitz: Arizona hasn't been successful at sacking the quarterback this season. The Cardinals have just eight sacks, which is tied for 30th in the NFL with Oakland, one ahead of Atlanta. Rams QB Austin Davis has admitted that he doesn't perform as well against the blitz. He's completing 59.4 percent of his passes against it; 66.7 percent vs. a normal rush. The Cardinals are blitzing on 41.5 percent of quarterback drop backs, the fifth-highest rate in the league. They'd like to sack Davis, but if they're disrupting his rhythm, that may be enough.

The Rams blitz: After a rough October, St. Louis' vaunted pass rush has re-emerged, even with defensive end Chris Long (ankle) out of the lineup. St. Louis had eight sacks last week against San Francisco and has 14 in the last three weeks. Sack master Robert Quinn had two against the 49ers and has five in his last three games after going sackless in his first five games. Watch the Cardinals tackles closely.

-- Rams assistant head coach Dave McGinnis was the Cardinals coach from 2000-2003, and the defensive coordinator from 1996-2000. 

-- The Cardinals and Rams have met 70 times prior to Sunday's game. The series is dead even at 34-34-2.

-- Since the Cardinals moved into University of Phoenix Stadium in 2006, the noisy crowds have helped contribute to more false start penalties from opposing offenses than any other building in the NFL. Opponents have committed 120 false starts in that span at UOPS. Detroit's Ford Field is second at 113.

Follow Craig Morgan on Twitter

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