How the Arizona Cardinals can win the NFC West
3. Pose a challenge to the Los Angeles Rams
The Arizona Cardinals won three games this past season, two of those victories at the expense of a San Francisco 49ers’ team that finished 4-12 in 2018. In recent years, the club has more times than not split their two-game set with the Seattle Seahawks — although the Cards were swept this past season in the series for the first time since 2014.
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But it’s been quite a different story the past two years when it comes to Big Red matching up with the team that has captured the division twice over that span. The Los Angeles Rams have prevailed in the last four meetings between the clubs and it hasn’t been close. Sean McVay’s club has won those contests by a combined 130-25 score, shut out Arizona twice and averaged 405.3 total yards per game in those outings.
So can new head coach Kliff Kingsbury and perhaps more significantly, new defensive coordinator Vance Joseph be up to the task of turning things around in this series?
The Arizona offense produced just three touchdowns in those setbacks (one of those scores a David Johnson touchdown grab from wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald) while the Cardinals had zero answers for McVay’s attack. And it’s also worth noting that the Cards have used a different starting quarterback (Carson Palmer, Blaine Gabbert, Sam Bradford and Josh Rosen) in each of the last four meetings. And barring a major surprise, Kyler Murray will make it five.