Betting sites opened the home team as a 4.5-point fave. Early money appears to lean toward Arizona, however. Most of the best online sportsbooks saw the spread quickly come down to 4.0. The Rams have won nine of the last 10 meetings. They are 8-1-1 against the spread. The total opened at 50.5 but dropped slightly early in the week.
After they battled for the NFC West division title all season long, the Rams (12-5 SU, 8-9 ATS) will host a familiar face in the Arizona Cardinals (11-6, 10-7 ATS) to see which of the two will advance to the divisional round. This will be their third match this season. Each team won on the road.
Cardinals vs. Rams NFL Wild Card Playoffs Odds by MyBookie.ag
| Team | SP/RL | TOTAL | ML | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardinals | +4 ( -110 ) | 49½ ( -110 ) | +165 |  |
| Rams | -4 ( -110 ) | 49½ ( -110 ) | -195 | |
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Betting Arizona Cardinals
Arizona became only the ninth franchise in league history to win eight away games in a single season (8-1). That includes wins over Tennessee, Dallas and the Rams. In their Week 4 win over the Rams, the Cardinals ran for 216 yards.
This included 120 by Chase Edmonds. Their running attack is a three-pronged monster that features Edmonds, James Conner and QB Kyler Murray. They have a total of 1,767 rushing yards this season. As a whole, Arizona averages 122 rushing yards per game.
They have scored 23 rushing TDs, ranking third in the NFL. JJ Watt may come back after missing the last 10 games with an injured shoulder. The Cardinals went 7-0 in games where Watt played this season and 4-6 sans him.
Murray was impeccable in their win over the Rams earlier this season. However, he threw two picks in their loss to LA. Moreover, Murray was tied for second for most fumbles with 13. Miraculously, he did not lose a single one.
Betting Los Angeles Rams
The Horned Ones are favored at home by betting sites. Matthew Stafford is 0-3 in his postseason career. Let’s not forget though that those three losses were as a member of the Detroit Lions. Stafford did nothing this season but break the Rams’ franchise record for passing yards with 4,886 and finish second to the GOAT with 41 touchdown passes.
On the other hand, stats don’t lie and they do not bode well for Stafford. In Weeks 1-9, he was the NFL’s most efficient QB with a passer rating of 111. But since Week 9, he’s passed a league-worst 11 picks.
That includes four that were returned for a TD. Stafford finished with 17 picks, tied for the most in the NFL. He will hope to reprise his Week 14 showing against the Cardinals when his passer rating was over 139.
Stafford surely has the arsenal to play. Cooper Kupp led the NFL with 1,947 receiving yards. Van Jefferson had a banner season. And Odell Beckham Jr. has shown some glimpses of his old self since arriving in Los Angeles.
Their star players need to step up to the plate. The team added Stafford, OBJ and Von Miller for such games as this. Let us not forget the difference makers they already had in Jalen Ramsey, Aaron Donald and Kupp. This truly is a mean machine of a football team. If they play at the best of their abilities, the spread at betting sites will fall short.
Cardinals vs. Rams NFL Wild Card Playoffs Picks
This should be a great one. We think there could be some nervousness here with both returning to the postseason picture. We also expect this game to open wide, like their first two matchups, ending as they did in the total going over.
