5 burning questions for Rams at Cards in Week 3…

5 burnings questions for Rams at Cardinals in Week 3

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

Cameron DaSilva


The Rams and Cardinals will square off for the first time this season at State Farm Stadium, a pivotal NFC West matchup this early in the season. The Cardinals haven’t beaten the Rams at home since 2014, and Los Angeles is 10-1 overall against Arizona since 2017.

To preview this divisional matchup, we called upon Cards Wire editor Jess Root. Here are five big questions we asked, attempting to gather some intel on Arizona ahead of Sunday’s game.

1

How has this offense looked without DeAndre Hopkins so far?

Cards Wire: For six quarters, it looked lost, but that was more about the defense being absolutely dreadful. They don’t have that alpha on the field but the passing game hasn’t really been limited. Once they got some rhythm after halftime last week, they pretty much had everything available. Teams have be playing with two safeties high, which has challenged the Cardinals in the past but with the length of A.J. Green and the play of Marquise Brown and Greg Dortch so far, the production is still there.

2

If there’s a weakness of this team, what is it?

Cards Wire: It has been quite clearly everything with the defense. For six quarters, they looked like one of the worst defenses in the entire league. They only have one sack in two games, they were not getting their hands on balls and were not tackling well. They weren’t getting pressure and weren’t covering well. DC Vance Joseph suggested that coverage was more the issue than the pass rush.

3

How big has the loss of Chandler Jones been?

Cards Wire: That is a big question. He only had 5.5 sacks in the last 16 games last season, so it wasn’t like he was putting up monster numbers. The problem is that his presence was still important. Thus far, the Cardinals don’t have much edge presence.

4

The Cardinals have allowed the most points in the league. What have teams done to exploit the defense?

Cards Wire: For six quarters, all they had to do was run a route and not draw a penalty. The Cardinals were just not lining up right or using good technique, so players have been open.

After halftime last week, things started clicking. They allowed 66 total yards in the second half and overtime last week after giving up 488 in Week 1 and 258 in the first two quarters of Week 2.

5

Who wins on Sunday and why?

Cards Wire: If the Cardinals are anything near what they were in the second half last week, they will be very hard to beat. They had the running game going, the passing game going and the defense was making stops.

Against an ailing L.A. secondary, I think the Cardinals can build on last week’s game. The pass protection has been good, so if they don’t turn the ball over and if the defense can make a couple of stops, this will be a great game.

I’ve got the Cardinals stealing a win with the Rams banged up, 27-24.