It’s exactly what it says on the tin or official league press release. The Arizona Cardinals win on Monday night, and they clinch their first playoff berth since 2015. The Cardinals can be amongst the first to punch their ticket this week. A once-daunting clash with the Los Angeles Rams awaits the Cardinals in Week 14, but with a commanding victory against their most menacing division rival already chalked up, the Cardinals look primed to make the postseason on Monday Night Football.
The Rams have built a roster worthy of the glittering lights of Los Angeles, and taking on Sean McVay is still no easy task. However, considering the depth of their squad, they’ve been somewhat underwhelming. The Cardinals have the reassurance of Week 4’s victory tucked firmly under their belt, and with questions being asked about the true quality of this Rams side, favor has to swing towards the Cardinals in Week 14.
Week 14 Win Clinches Arizona Cardinals Playoff Berth
More Is Less For The Rams
Entering their Week 14 matchup, the Cardinals have many reasons to be confident. First, they won their Week 4 matchup by a larger margin than the score suggests. More importantly, they also take the field knowing this Rams team is arguably worse than the one they bet in October. Despite their flashy additions, Los Angeles is not the dominant force they were thought to have been.
Jared Goff for Matthew Stafford seemed like a home run for the Rams, bringing in one of the NFL’s best arms to run McVay’s innovative offensive system. Well, Goff took them to a Super Bowl, and Stafford has only just halted a skid of three consecutive games with a pick-six. Goff is also 7-1 against Arizona, while Stafford’s time with the Rams has left him at 0-1. Heading into Week 4 though, Stafford still looked like a revelation, and Arizona managed to shut him down. This is an offense that has added Stafford and Odell Beckham Jr this season. Yet the Rams lost Robert Woods mid-season, and that was a far more significant blow than most might think. Simply put, the Rams offense doesn’t work so well without Woods’ ability to stretch the field; a somewhat kneecapped Rams offense awaits the Cardinals in Week 14.
Again, on defense, they have a bunch of stars, but they’re not being the absolute game-wreckers they usually are. There were a lot of doughnuts on the stats sheet last time for Aaron Donald, who hardly got near Kyler Murray. The Rams technically come in with a reinforced defense compared to Week 4, having added perennial All-Pro Von Miller to the lineup since. Yet Miller hasn’t been great and is yet to score a sack for the Rams. Donald and Jalen Ramsey are still the best defensive players for the Rams, and the Cardinals have shown before that they can beat them.
Week 4 Repeat For The Cardinals in Week 14
The Cardinals can win in Week 14 in the same way they did in Week 4. The Cardinals will run the ball against a Rams side that gave up Arizona’s biggest rushing total of the season last time out. Since then, the Cardinals have continued to look solid in the ground game. James Conner has been excellent during his time as Arizona’s lead back and could have the luxury of sharing carries with the returning Chase Edmonds, who went for 120 yards against Los Angeles in October.
Week 4 was Arizona’s most complete performance of the season at that point of the year. The run game looked assertive, and the offense demonstrated the depth of its arsenal; Murray hit seven different guys, with three players, DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Green, and Maxx Williams totaling over 60 yards on the day. Yes, the Rams defense has some scary players, but running the ball for a season-high against the league’s best defensive lineman, and throwing for 268 against the NFL’s best corner bodes well for Arizona’s chances of doing it again. With Murray back in the saddle, and with the offensive arsenal at full strength for the first time in months, the Cardinals have a good chance of repeating their Week 4 performance here in December.
Playoff Scenarios For The Cardinals in Week 14
For the Cardinals, it’s a win and you’re in scenario. However, that’s not the only way. Indeed, the Cardinals may have already made the playoffs come Monday night, pending the results of some of Sunday’s fixtures. The following scenarios would see the Cardinals seal a playoff berth in 2021:
- Minnesota Vikings tie/loss + San Francisco 49ers loss
- Vikings tie/loss + Carolina Panthers tie/loss + New Orleans Saints tie/loss
- 49ers loss + Saints tie/loss + Panthers-Atlanta Falcons tie
What matters at this stage though, is that fate lies in their own hands. For the Cardinals in Week 14, regardless of Sunday’s results, it’s win and you’re in. In Arizona though, they’re already selling playoff tickets as this historic Cardinals side marches towards a long-awaited return to the playoffs. To clinch it against the Rams, well that would just be poetic wouldn’t it?
Main Photo: Embed from Getty Images
