Bold Predictions for Cardinals vs Rams

The Arizona Cardinals host the Los Angeles Rams this week - let's get bold.

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) practices during the team's training camp session at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on July 24, 2024. / Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

Can the Arizona Cardinals upset the visiting Los Angeles Rams for their first win of the season and their home opener?

It’s entirely possible - however, a lot needs to go right for the Cardinals to beat their NFC West rivals in Week 2.

We previewed earlier the key players for the Cardinals in this game to secure the upset. Here, we make three bold predictions for how this game will turn out:

Kyler Murray is sacked five times, but rushes for 60+ yards and a touchdown

Murray was running for his life against the Bills a week ago and he faces another dynamic pass rush with the Rams tomorrow. The edge rushing duo of Byron Young and rookie Jared Verse is off to a good start after they each had a sack last week against the Lions. Defensive tackle Kobie Turner is also a monster and game-wrecker from the interior.

It won’t be an easy day for the Cardinals’ offensive line, and Murray will have to scramble a lot to stay upright and extend plays. He did that last week against the Bills, and he cashed in 57 rushing yards on just five carries. He was sacked four times.

I’m predicting a similar result against LA, who has a better pass rush on paper than Buffalo did. Although Murray isn’t the runner he was early in his career, he won’t have much of a choice to start this season.

Cardinals’ run defense surrenders 150 yards and two touchdowns

Against the Bills, the run defense wasn’t at its best. The Cards gave up 130 rushing yards to the Bills as well as two touchdowns, both from Josh Allen. Arizona did hold Buffalo to ~3.9 yards per carry, however.

LA doesn’t have a mobile quarterback like Allen with Matthew Stafford. What they do have, however, is a dynamite running back in Kyren Williams who ran for 301 yards with 8.4 YPC plus two scores in two against the Cardinals last season.

To call this a daunting challenge would be quite an understatement, but the Cardinals must find a way to slow Williams down if they want to win.

Unfortunately, I don’t think this defense is ready as of now to stop Williams and the Rams' rushing attack.

Cards’ pass rush steps up for four sacks

The Cardinals won’t have a great pass rush this season, or at least not until Darius Robinson returns from injury. They did, however, manage to bring down Josh Allen twice last week with creativity with their blitzing and players determined to bring down arguably the toughest QB in the league.

Tomorrow, they get a Rams offensive line that’s OK, but it’s an exposable line with the right game plan. Based on what we saw last week, there’s a chance that the Cardinals can dial up some pressure and surprise the Rams.

I am predicting exactly that, with Arizona getting home not once, not twice, not three times, but FOUR TIMES.

I’m not sure if this is enough to win the game, but it will garner some respect for this defense’s ability to play above their perceived talent level and play with the classic “next man up” mentality.