Another week, another exciting Monday Night Football showdown on the docket for fans to enjoy. This time around, we’ve got a great showdown that could have monster implications on the NFC West championship race. Los Angeles vs. Arizona? Goodness. In this article, we have NFL picks for Rams vs. Cardinals on MNF, which is all set to be played in Phoenix. Who will come out on top?
Cardinals are slight favorites going up against the Rams
With this being such a highly-anticipated battle, the Cardinals are slight favorites going up against the Rams when they meet over in Arizona. These are easily the two best teams in the division, with the San Francisco 49ers now 6-6 on the year after they suffered a tough loss to the Seattle Seahawks, who have somehow recorded a 4-8 record through their first 12 games.
For Arizona, goodness, they’ve been outstanding this year. The Cardinals are in first place with their 10-2 mark, which has them in the hunt to potentially capture the No. 1 seed in the NFC as well. The team has been able to overcome injuries to Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins. Both players just returned to action and the offense is humming like usual.
Meanwhile on the other side of the field, the Rams have also been fantastic and they’re 8-4. LA appears to have a spot locked in for the NFC Wild Card, but you never know, they could catch up to the Cardinals in the division if they record a win on Monday Night Football. Their offense is outstanding too, as if their defense. For the O, things only got better with the team signing Odell Beckham Jr.
According to the best-rated online sportsbooks, the Cardinals hold -138 NFL Vegas odds for the meeting with the Rams. For LA, they are indeed slight underdogs with +118 odds. This one should be a great showdown, but we think that the Cardinals will be able to win this one late with a final score. Agree with us? If so, check out the best NFL betting sites to get your wager in.
The over should hit in this matchup between the Rams and Cardinals
In terms of offense/defensive production, we think the over should hit in this matchup between the Rams and Cardinals in Week 14. We’re talking about two extremely potent offenses. For Arizona and Los Angeles, it really has been hard for opposing defenses to try and contain them. That’s because they both have strong aerial and running attacks. That should continue.
In terms of the visitors, the Rams have been led by the outstanding play of quarterback Matthew Stafford. Following his trade from the Lions to LA, it’s clear that Stafford is loving every minute of being with Los Angeles. Cooper Kupp is also one of the best wideouts, and adding Beckham to the equation really makes this unit truly devastating for opposing defenses.
The Cardinals are also one of the best teams in terms of offense in the NFL. They’re arguably topped in the NFC too. Murray is great, and so is Hopkins. On top of that, the addition of James Conner has really been delightful, as he’s been a touchdown machine for the team. On top of that A.J. Green with the Cardinals may not be as sexy as expected, but he’s still a playmaker.
Per the oddsmakers, the over/under has been set at 51.5 points. The over holds -114 odds, and the under has been placed at -106. With so much firepower for these offenses, the thought of them combining for less than 52 points really does not seem realistic. Because of this, there’s no question that we’re going to have to go with the over as our pick for this game.
While we think this one will be close, we think the Cardinals should go on to cover the spread too on Monday Night Football. The spread has been placed at -2.5 for Arizona, with the Rams being at +2.5. That means, that Arizona just needs to win by a field goal to cover things? Yes indeed, which should end up happening with Murray back to full health.
What makes Murray such a dangerous player is that he’s so incredibly mobile. Just when defensive lineman and pass-rushers think that they are about to record a sack, Murray finds a way to evade the pressure and he breaks free for some yardage. We don’t have to tell you how frustrating that can be for opposing defenses. Kliff Kingsbury loves seeing it.
On Monday Night Football, we think that Arizona will be able to win this one by potentially 5-6 points. While the Rams really do have plenty of studs out there who could potentially lead them to an upset, we think the home-field advantage will be too much for Los Angeles to overcome. Look for Murray and the rest of the Arizona offense to really execute and win by three or more.
With a background as a writer, Rodrigo has managed to bring together his hobbies and education writing sports content for various top-tier sites around the world.