 |  |
| St. Louis Rams | Arizona Cardinals |
Despite a loss Sunday at Philadelphia the Arizona Cardinals are still right in the running for an NFC playoff berth.
At 7-5 Arizona is actually tied with Dallas for the second spot, although at the moment the Cowboys own the tiebreaker.
So the Cardinals can't afford too many more losses, and they can't lose a game they should win at home against the 5-7 St. Louis Rams Sunday.
Arizona had won four in a row until falling 24-21 to the Eagles Sunday. But the Cardinals still covered at +3.5, so they're now 4-1 ATS over their last five games.
Meanwhile, St. Louis just had a two-game winning streak snapped by a 23-13 loss at San Francisco Sunday.
In the first meeting this season between these two NFC West rivals back in September the Rams rallied from down 24-13 in the fourth quarter to win 27-24.
As of early this week Arizona was favored by six points over St. Louis at Sportsbook. A couple of UNDER trends prevail here, as the total has gone UNDER in 8 of St. Louis's last 11 games when playing Arizona. Also, the UNDER is 13-3 past 16 Rams games in December.
The Rams will look to vanquish their hosts on Sunday, as they are 5-7 ATS versus the spread this season, while the Cardinals are 7-4-1 ATS. St. Louis is 9-3 against the total, while Arizona is 6-6 versus the number.
View St. Louis Rams vs Arizona Cardinals Odds and Stats.
Bettors who were going with the Cardinals in this one found them listed as 6.5-point favorites on the betting line at Sportsbook. Totals bettors have seen that number set earlier in the week at 41.5 for Sunday.
The power rankings show a disparity between these teams, with the Cardinals rated this week at No. 10 and the Rams sitting at No. 20. It may or may not play a role in OddsShark score prediction models that turned out a 23-21 result in favor of the Cardinals this week.
St. Louis lost its last outing, a 23-13 result against the 49ers on December 1. The Rams failed to cover in that game as a 7.5-point underdog, while the 36 combined points took the game UNDER the total. The Rams suffered a Week 13 loss against San Francisco in their last game, falling 23-13 at Candlestick Park. Last time out, Carson Palmer threw for 3 scores and 302 yards in a failed effort to defeat Philadelphia at Lincoln Financial Field.
How They Match Up:
The game also pits Arizona's No. 18-ranked offense, averaging 22.92 PPG, against a Rams defense that ranks No. 15 this week at 23.17 PPG. The Cardinals aerial game is averaging 246.5 yards per game, less than the Rams secondary allows through the air, 247.67 YPG per game.
Defensively, the Rams feature the league's No. 5-rated road run defense, allowing 97.5 yards per game. Arizona, meanwhile, ranks No. 22 in rushing offense at home.
A few Rams at Cardinals trends to consider:
St. Louis is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 7 of St. Louis's last 9 games
St. Louis is 8-4 ATS in its last 12 games on the road
St. Louis is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
Arizona is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
Arizona is 8-16 SU in its last 24 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Arizona's last 7 games
Arizona is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games at home
Next up:
St. Louis home to New Orleans, Sunday, December 15th
Arizona at Tennessee, Sunday, December 15th
