Big Red Blog: Upset Alert ... Again

The Cardinals will try and move to 5-0 on Thursday night but will need to overcome some major hurdles in St. Louis.

Upset Alert ... Again

Posted by Brad Wilbricht
Thursday, October 4 - 4:30 PM

The Cardinals will try and move to 5-0 on Thursday night but will once again have to avoid a letdown spot along with some additional hurdles. Arizona managed to sneak by last week against Miami but may have exerted too much energy during a tremendous second-half comeback that resulted in an overtime victory.

Another major obstacle facing the Cardinals this week includes coming off a short week on the road in St. Louis. The aforementioned tremendous comeback against the Dolphins took place just four days ago.

Earlier this season, this certainly would have looked like a winnable game for the Cardinals - and it still is - but St. Louis has been better than expected. The Rams are 2-0 at home and were seconds away from upsetting the Lions in Week 1, which would have given them a 3-1 record heading into tonight's contest.

QB Sam Bradford appears to be back on the track he started two years ago and has been complemented by some emerging wide receivers and still has the services of Steven Jackson on the ground.

Neither team has a statistical advantage that jumps off the stat sheet as both squads are in the bottom half of most offensive and defensive team categories. Special teams and turnovers are two areas that could very well determine Thursday's outcome and just so happens to be an area where the Cardinals have been a little better than the Rams. Arizona is tied for third in the NFC with 10 takeaways while St. Louis isn't far behind with eight.

If the Cardinals can continue to win the turnover battle and manage to get some sort of running game going with Ryan Williams and company, they'll have an excellent chance at moving to 5-0 on the year. However, Arizona's defensive magic will have to slow down at some point and Kevin Kolb could be in for a struggle against a solid Rams pass defense.

Unless Patrick Peterson can muster up a return touchdown or two, look for St. Louis to snap the Cardinals four-game winning streak and pull a mild at home.

Prediction: St. Louis 19 Arizona 17

---

Questions or comments? Contact Brad Wilbricht at

---

blog comments powered by Disqus

---

Questions or comments? Contact Brad Wilbricht at

---

blog comments powered by Disqus