Super Wildcard Weekend... Monday Edition?
Cardinal at Rams
Kickoff: 8:15pm ET, 5:15pm PT, 1:15am GMT (Tuesday)
In the latest edition of the NFL maximising ad revenue, we now have the delight of a Monday Night Football game. At least it gives us the Manning Cast for one last time (they may be back in some capacity next season, God willing). The idea of a playoff game on Monday Night is a little troubling. The winner doesn’t play until Sunday afternoon, but the time between the divisional round of the playoffs and the last game that each team played is:
Packers: 12 days without a game
Titans: 12 days without a game
Bills: 7 days without a game
Chiefs: 6 days without a game
Bucs: 6 days without a game
Bengals: 6 days without a game
49ers: 5 days without a game
Rams/Cardinals: 5 days without a game
The Titans and Packers earned their extra break by getting the bye, but the 49ers and the Rams/Cardinals are being placed in an unfair situation. We all know these things will happen, we have to live with it, but it’s not outside the realms of reality that this game hits overtime and a winning, yet gassed, Rams defence has played 90 snaps against an exhausting Cardinals offence and then has 5 days to rest/game plan/practice/travel and then play again against a well oiled offence in Tampa Bay. That’s NFL football in 2022, but the NFL needs to check itself when they try and promote themselves as an organisation that cares about the health and well being of the players and the integrity of the competition.
Prediction (63-46 through the regular season)
Back at the end of November, the Rams went up against the Packers in Green Bay, it was 36-17 to the Packers by the end of the 3rd quarter, they would go on to score 11 points in the 4th, but they still lost, and it left a bad taste in the mouth. Since then, they’ve won 5 of 6, but they’ve had trouble from one area they cannot afford to have trouble, particularly against good teams. The trouble was simple, 8 INTs in 4 games. The player they brought in to put them over the top has been putting them in a hole. In most cases they’ve been able to climb out of that hole, but this is now playoff football, there is no best of 7, you don’t get another chance, once the final whistle goes, it’s over. The Rams can’t afford to let Stafford throw the game away, last week they were up 17-3 against the 49ers at half time and went on to tank the game in the second half - it was a classic example from both teams only playing football for 30 minutes each. They might not have needed that win as much as the 49er did, but they absolutely cannot let teams back into games like did last week if they want to get to the Super Bowl.
With injuries at WR and sub-par performances from replacements, the Rams have to focus on passing with Van Jefferson and Cooper Kupp as their primary targets. Their running game is serviceable and they have some quality at tight end, but if for some reason Kupp get’s double teamed out of the game, then you’d have to worry about Stafford’s decision making when throwing to the rest of the WR group.
A few weeks back we made mention of the downward curve that a Kliff Kingsbury team takes in the second half of a season, college or pro, and that odd trend is continuing into this season. For whatever reason, the Cardinals have not been able to keep pace with their first 8 games, perhaps it’s the result of injuries, or perhaps they are not able to adapt to their opponents evolution, but the Cardinals have split both division games with the Rams this season, whipping them up early but then falling short in their last meeting 5 weeks ago. Those two games perfectly illustrate the mirror image of this team. In the first meeting the Cardinals ran for 215 yards, in the second game, they had 103. In the first game they won the turnover battle 2-0, in the second game they lost the turnover battle 2-0. Limiting passing mistakes and maintaining a strong running game is paramount for the Cardinals chances of winning this game.
I made a mental note, after the Cowboys/Cardinals game, that picking against Kyler Murray was like picking against Lamar Jackson, you can feel good about the pick but Murray can leave you looking like a moron, just like Jackson can. If Murray’s switched on and Kingsbury has the right game plan for him, it’s going to take a master class from Stafford to keep up. However, that would mean this game comes down to the right game plan, and if coaching has a major influence on the outcome of this game, then Sean McVay has to get the nod.
It comes down to execution, can Stafford follow the rules of playoff football or will Murray/Kingsbury cut through the Rams like they did in week 4?
Final Score: Cardinals 30 - 31 Rams (I’m a moron)