Monday Night Lock (NFL Week 14)
Rams @ Cardinals (-2.5), O/U 50.5
Big Monday Night game alert!!! If the Rams want any chance at winning this division, this is a game they absolutely must win. If the Cardinals want to keep ahead of the Packers for the NFC first round bye, and essentially lock up the division, this game is extremely important. I hate Covid for impacting this game…
These two teams met back in Week 4, and it was an extremely lopsided win by the Cardinals. To be fair, the Rams were coming off of an extremely convincing win against the Buccaneers, so at the time this game was chalked up as simply a letdown game for them to a team that was rolling. But since then, the Rams have shown weaknesses. They’ve been physically beaten up by teams. Stafford has been banged up and has become turnover-prone. The loss of Robert Woods has significantly limited them through the air, and their ground game certainly isn’t intimidating. Meanwhile, the Cardinals have been absolutely steamrolling teams, and appear to be as close to full health as a team can be this late in the season.
I was going to go Rams here, up until finding out Jalen Ramsey (among others) are out for the Rams due to Covid. It’s tough to sweep a tough division opponent twice in the same year. The Rams need this game much more than the Cardinals do. But Ramsey is so important for a team that is so top heavy with talent. I have to lay the points with the Cardinals here.
