Free Picks: Los Angeles Rams vs Arizona Cardinals

The NFC West has been a wild roller coaster all year.  The Los Angeles Rams will host the Arizona Cardinals in a game that will decide both teams’ fates.  The Rams will be without their starting quarterback, and there’s a good chance that Kyler Murray sits out for the Cardinals. 888sport has the Cardinals as -3.5 (-105) road favourites.

The NFC West is as tight as ever this year, with everything coming down to the final week.

The Arizona Cardinals inexplicably lost to the depleted San Francisco 49ers in Week 16, making this week’s game against the Los Angeles Rams all that more vital to their playoff hopes.   The Cardinals must win or tie as long as the Chicago Bears lose their matchup with the Green Bay Packers.  The Rams are in a similar situation, but they can afford to lose as long as Chicago loses as well.

We’re accustomed to seeing great performances from these teams, but both teams are injury-riddled.  Jared Goff is out for the Rams after undergoing thumb surgery, while Kyler Murray may be out for the Cardinals with a leg injury.  John Wolford will step in for Goff, and Chris Streveler would step in for Murray if he’s out.  Neither quarterback has thrown a single pass in the NFL.

Things could get ugly.

The Rams have an excellent defense, which is currently ranked number one overall against the pass, allowing just 192.3 yards per game to opponents.  The Rams defense may be enough to limit the Cardinals, especially if Streveler is under center. The Rams haven’t looked so hot either after dropping their previous two games, including a nine-point outing against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 16.

Arizona is just 2-6 ATS in their last eight games, and the total has gone UNDER in four of their previous six.  They’ll either be rolling out a rookie quarterback or a hobbled Kyler Murray against the Rams elite defense.  I’m not sold on the Rams either, because even before Goff went down, they weren’t looking great, but I’ll give them the nod here at home.

Sorry Cards, better luck next year.

• Los Angeles is 8-2 SU in their last 1- games against Arizona
• Los Angeles is 9-3 in their last 12 games against an NFC opponent
• Arizona is 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games
• Arizona is 2-4 SU in their last 6 games