The Cardinals can’t overlook the Rams who are playing much better than they were early in the year.  They almost beat the Saints last week and they won the game before it against the Lions.  The offense is starting to really click for the Cardinals now and they will be attacking the Rams through the air the minute they get off the team bus.  The Rams are allowing 236.2 yards passing per game and the Cards are averaging 271.0 yards passing per game so Kurt Warner will be throwing the ball early and often in this game.  The Rams don’t really have the corners to deal with Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston so it could be a long day for the Rams if they can’t put any pressure on Warner.  Don’t be surprised if Beanie Wells has a huge game against a Rams’ D that is allowing 142.3 yards rushing per game and 4.5 yards per carry.

The Rams are going to do what they always do on offense and that’s get the ball to Steven Jackson.  Jackson is a absolute beast even if you stack the box against him.  The Cardinals are allowing 101.0 yards rushing per game and 4.2 ypc so Jackson will likely get his yards.  The Cardinals will no doubt be cheating up against the run so it will be up to QB Marc Bulger to make them pay for it.  The Cardinals are allowing 253.4 yards passing per game so Bulger could have a good game against them.  That will depend on young receivers Donnie Avery and Brandon Gibson who must get separation at the line of scrimmage.

PREDICTION:  CARDINALS 35, RAMS 14

The Rams have lost 27-year old DE C.J. Ah You for the year with a torn ACL.  Ah You had 17 tackles, 1 sack and he defensed 1 pass this year for the Rams.  This means that 26-year old Victor Adeyanju will likely get more P.T. for the Rams going forward.  He has played in 3 games for the Rams this season and he has 1 tackle.  He has played 4 years in his NFL career appearing in 46 games in which he has 111 tackles, 2 passes defensed and 3 sacks. 

The Rams have signed 25-year old WR Jordan Kent.  Kent has nice size at 6′4″, 219 pounds but he has not caught a pass yet in his three years in the NFL.  He will likely get his first chance to help the Rams on special teams as he has 3 career tackles.  Don’t expect miracles out of Kent who has shown nothing yet in his NBA career.

The Rams have lost WR Keenan Burton for the year due to a torn right patellar tendon.  Burton played in 9 games for the Rams this season and he caught 25 passes for 253 yards (10.1 avg).  The Rams will likely turn to rookie WR Brandon Gibson to replace Burton in the starting lineup.  Gibson has played in 2 games for the Rams so far this season and he has caught 7 passes for 93 yards (13.3 avg).  Gibson has a higher upside than Burton so this might actually pump up the passing game a little bit as Burton was just a possession receiver.

The Rams showed a lot of life on offense in this game as they put a scare into the undefeated Saints earlier today.  Marc Bulger has his best game of the year for the Rams completing 26 of 40 passes for 298 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 INT.  Steven Jackson had another huge game as was expected as he carried the ball 26 times for 131 yards (5.0 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also added 5 catches for 45 yards (9.0 avg) today.  Rookie WR Brandon Gibson had the best game of his NFL career for the Rams with 7 catches for 93 yards (13.3 avg).  Donnie Avery also had a huge game for the Rams with 4 catches for 67 yards (16.8 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  The Rams finished up with 434 total yards on offense (141 rushing, 293 passing) in this game.

DE James Hall led another sub par effort by the Rams’ D with 6 tackles.  Safeties James Butler (5 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception) and Oshiomogho Atowge (5 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception) also pitched in with solid efforts on the defense today for the Rams.  The Saints finished up with 420 total yards on offense (203 rushing, 217 passing) in this game.  The special teams of the Rams also had a huge gaffe as Courtney Roby returned a kickoff 97 yards for a TD today.  The Rams have fallen to 1-8 on the year with this loss.