3 bold predictions for Rams-Cardinals

Christian Rozeboom has a big day in SoFi

Even with a Seattle Seahawk win against the Chicago Bears on Thursday, the Los Angeles Rams have a chance to lockdown the NFC West with a win against the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday by way of Strength of Victory. Here are my three bold predictions for this week’s matchup.

Kyren Williams shows he can be explosive

Since fumbling twice in a loss against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 12, Kyren Williams has been on an absolute tear. In four games he has rushed for 421 yards, four touchdowns, and has been a stud in pass protection. The calls to see Blake Corum have quieted with Williams taking over the backfield in full force. The one glaring weakness though? He has not had a rush over 30+ yards the entire season. The lack of explosiveness has not hampered the team’s ability to win games but rather it has created some argument against a big extension following a contract year in 2025. Will Les Snead and Sean McVay head back to the draft board to find their next Todd Gurley or cruise with a running back that earns the tough yards? Williams will get an opportunity to continue to prove himself against a Cardinals defense that has allowed the 129.5 yards per game this season and 178.3 in their last three. I predict that LA’s star running back will continue his impressive performance in the back-end of the season with an explosive 50+ yard run.

Christian Rozeboom gets his second interception of the season

The decision to trade away Ernest Jones in a contract year just before the start of the season will likely forever be questioned, especially with the former Ram likely receiving a few Pro Bowl votes for his performance with the Seattle Seahawks. In his absence Christian Rozeboom was asked to take over as the feature linebacker and after struggling mightily at the start of the year the position has at the very least has been watchable in the last half of the season. His best performance came against the Miami Dolphins in Week 10 where he came away with his lone interception of the season and nearly had a second. He will have a tough matchup against Cardinal’s running back, James Connor, who is utilized in the receiving game quite often. Connor may get the best of the matchup for the day, but I believe Rozeboom will get his second interception of the year regardless of who he ends up in coverage with.

Kyle Murray runs all over LA’s defense

For all the good Chris Shula’s squad has done this year one of their blaring weaknesses has been covering mobile quarterbacks. The last time that Rams saw Arizona, Murray had 59 rushing yards on five attempts for an 11.8 average. Against the Buffalo Bills, Josh Allen took off 10 times and finished just shy as the lead rusher on his team with 82 yards. Even Brock Purdy, who is not known for his speed, finished with 41 yards on 10 attempts in Week 3. Murray is coming of a 63 yard game against the Carolina Panthers and has posted 50+ yards rushing in five of his games this season. His best output came in Week 5 against the San Francisco 49ers where he ran for 83 yards on 7 attempts with a long of 50.

Without anything to play for, the Cardinals will be playing the grim reaper roll this Saturday which is why I think Murray will be in his bag this weekend and will rush for 80+ yards for the second time this season.