The betting line for the NFL Week 14 Monday Night Football game opened with the Cardinals favored by 3 points over the Rams, but the number has dropped to 2 at DraftKings and FanDuel, with Los Angeles available at +2.5 at other locations around the marketplace, including PointsBet and BetMGM.
The total was bet down during early wagering from as high as 52.5.
BetMGM Line: Cardinals – 2.5 (51.5)
The skinny: Assuming heavily-favored Green Bay beats Chicago on Sunday night, Arizona needs to win here to maintain its spot atop the NFC standings.
Facts: The Rams had won eight in a row in the series from 2017-20, all as a favorite and going 8-0 ATS, too. But in Week 4 this season, the Cardinals prevailed in L.A., 37-20 as 3.5-point underdogs. They had a season-high 216 rushing yards, the most allowed by the Rams this year.
Arizona RB Chase Edmonds had 120 of those ground yards and just recently was OK’d to return off IR after having an ankle injury. Doesn’t sound like he’ll be activated just yet.
The Rams are coming off a 37-7 win over Jacksonville after going a month without a victory and got big games from backup RB Sony Michel and WR Cooper Kupp. Michel, filling for injured Darrell Henderson, had 121 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries, becoming L.A.’s first 100-yard rusher this year. Kupp had a typically great day with eight catches for 129 yards and a score.
Last week for the Cardinals saw the return of QB and MVP candidate Kyler Murray in a 33-22 win in nippy, wet Chicago. He had missed the previous three games with an ankle injury. In that win, Arizona benefited greatly from having the best average starting field position of any team the past five years, its 49. It was a league-high third time at 40-plus.
Even though the Cardinals also got four INTs vs. the Bears, they yielded 26 first downs to the league’s 30th-ranked offense. L.A’.s stands sixth.
Analysis: L..A’s rush defense has improved since that Week 4 outing, giving up fewer than 100 yards in six of their past eight games and having an overall season yield of 3.8 a carry, which ranks second in the league.
Although Arizona RB James Conner has filled the void left by Edmonds and is tied for second in the NFL with 12 rushing TDs, his norm of 3.8 yards a carry is nothing to text home about. It’s almost two yards shy of Edmonds’ average. So Arizona shouldn’t expect a repeat of their first meeting.
Rams Vs. Cardinals Betting Analysis And Pick
The line seems a little inflated, perhaps not taking into consideration the Cardinals took advantage of three extra-short fields in Chicago and scored TDs on “drives” of only 28, 15 and 12 yards.
Pick: Rams 26, Cardinals 21
Last week: 5-9 ATS, 8-6 SU
Season total: 91-100-3 (.476) ATS; 116-71-1 (.601) SU
Also read: Week 15 look-ahead lines
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