Tonight is the first nationally televised game involving the Cardinals, and they play the division rival Rams in St. Louis.
The Cards looked complacent on Sunday, and nearly lost that game. The question is, did the near miss motivate the defense, or were they just lucky?
The Rams are improved. They played far under their ability last season. Like the other teams in the NFC West, the Rams have a very good defense. Quarterback Sam Bradford had an excellent rookie season and an awful sophomore season. I’m not sure what he’s going to do this year.
St. Louis has trouble stopping the run, but the Cardinals have trouble running the ball. It’s anyone’s guess how that’s going to pan out. The Rams defend against the pass much better than they do the run, but they still have Larry Fitzgerald to contend with.
I think this is going to be a low-scoring game, and I think Patrick Peterson is going to make an impact play. The Rams were burned twice on long punt returns for touchdown last season. Either they will make a compromise and kick away from him, or they might let it get to them and allow Peterson to do it again.
I think the Cards are going to have to hold the Rams to under under 14 points, because I’m not sure the Cards can score more than 17 on their defense. We shall see.