Thursday Night Football Game/Betting Preview

Let's face it. The NFL got so lucky with this match up. Their ratings would be way down, if the Cardinals were (0-4) like they were supposed to be at this point in the season. Instead we get a solid Thursday Night treat, as Arizona Cardinals head to St. Louis to take on the Rams. Now the Cardinals may be the worst undefeated team in history. They are 25th in the NFL in passing, 29th in rushing, 21st best pass D, and 15th best run D. They would be extremely lucky start of the season to be 2-2, let alone 4-0. Last week, the Cardinals bread and butter defence allowed 431 passing yards from the worst QB in the NFL right now (Ryan Tannehill)... that was also at home. Now they head to the 28th ranked passing O in the NFL, but that doesn't tell the entire story. They have faced 3 top 10 pass D's in the NFL (@Bears, Seahawks, Lions), when they played the Redskins, the worst pass D in the NFL, they put up 300 yards through the air. Bottom line, the Rams pass offense is not as bad as 28th in the NFL, that is with some very tough games. The Cardinals have also only played one game on the road this year (in which they won 20-18 with 242 yards at the Pats), but last year, they were 2-6 on the road, and 6-2 at home. This is virtually the same team as last year, they didn't all the sudden learn to play on the road. Meanwhile, the Rams are 2-0 at home this year against 2 solid teams, the Redskins and Seahawks. I think that the Rams 1-7 record at home last year was a fluke, most of their team was hurt, especially Sam Bradford, I look at their solid record in 2010, with a 5-3 record at home, and 2-6 on road. The Rams also rank 2nd in the NFL with 8 INTs, and with INTs, comes good field position, which leads me to my next point, Greg Zuerlein. Greg has hit 12 field goals through this year, and 3 from over 50 yards. He is a huge factor, because the Cardinals are known to play close games, and in close games one field goal can be the difference between a win and a loss. In fact, theoretically if each team the Cardinals have played just had one more field goal, the Cardinals would be 2-2 or even 1-3. Also, despite his weak start to the season, Steven Jackson ran very well last week, rushing for 55 good yards. The # don't display how good he actually ran against a top 5 run D, he actually should have ran for around 100 if he broke a tackle or two in the open field. The Rams also have one of the best CB in the NFL, Cortland Finnegan, I think Finnegan will shut down Fitzgerald, which will allow them to double Andre Roberts...So now what for Kolb. No run game, and 2 top WR shut down, playing away from home. Cardinals will prove why they are just a flash in the pan, just look at the facts. Cardinals 10 Rams 20. RAMS +1 FOR 2 UNITS U 39.5 FOR 5 UNITS.