Los Angeles Rams
vs.
Arizona Cardinals
Week 4
NFL Free Pick
10/2/16
Los Angeles heads into Week 4 on a bit of a hot streak. After getting shut out in their opener, the Rams have won two straight, over the Seahawks and Buccaneers. Arizona has gotten off to one of the more disappointing starts in the NFL through the first three weeks. First, it was losing the the Tom Brady-less Patriots at home. Next, the Cardinals seemingly righted the ship with a dominating performance against Tampa Bay. But, again, last week things didn’t look right as Arizona was beaten soundly at Buffalo. Despite all of the neGAtives, the Cardinals are a -7.5 point favorite.
Todd Gurley has gotten off to a very slow start in 2016, but he showed some life last week as he ran for 85 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries. Still, even with an improved performance this past week, Gurley is only averaging a paltry 2.9 yards per carry this season. There should be opportunity, however, for Gurley to show continued improvement this week. Arizona, while good as a whole defensively, is allowing an average of 133.0 rushing yards per Game so far — good for only 28th in the league.
The passing Game has provided little support as Case Keenum is averaging under 200 passing yards per Game. He is also only averaging 6.1 yards per attempt. Through three Games Kenny Britt and Tavon Austin are the only receivers with more that 100 yards through the air. But neither one of them has reached 200 yards on the season, either.
Carson Palmer is coming off a horrific performance in their blow-out loss. In his first two Games this season, Palmer threw for five touchdowns and no interceptions. He nearly had as bad a Game this past week as Ryan Fitzpatrick — that’s saying something! Palmer threw no touchdowns and Four interceptions in the loss to Buffalo. This should not happen again.
Palmer has weapons everywhere. LArry Fitzgerald, Jaron Brown, Michael Floyd. The list is impressive. It doesn’t stop there, either. David Johnson has over 200 yards rushing on the season and nearly 180 receiving as well. They’ll go up against Aaron Donald and a stout defensive front, but teams have been able to find some success as the Rams’ defense has been on the field a lot.
The question now will be whether or not Todd Gurley can be a big enough impact on this Game to keep it close. The improvement he showed a week ago is an eNCOuraging sign, but there’s still no guarantee he’ll have a strong week this week, considering Arizona will be focused on stopping him.
Prediction: Arizona should be motivated to play well after a 1-2 start. If they were to lose this one at home they’d have big hole to dig out of. If Gurley has a massive Game, expect this one to be close. But Arizona’s passing Game should have their opportunities and Pamer should protect the ball much better this week. Too much offense in Arizona. Too little offense in Los Angeles. SCore: Cardinals 31 Rams 17