The Arizona Cardinals have not looked like the playoff contenders they were considered to be midway through the season. The team has struggled heavily on offense especially after the loss of Carson Palmer. The team has lost their past two road games and will aim to avoid making it three as they face the inconsistent St. Louis Rams on Thursday Night Football.
The Cardinals have just four offensive touchdowns in their previous four games. The Cardinals still manage to hold the top spot of the NFC, but with the demise of the NFC South, that is not saying much. Arizona has simply not looked the same since Palmer was sacked by safety Mark Barron in the No. 9 win over the St. Louis Rams. Drew Stanton is a good quarterback not playing at the playoff level which is going to be an issue for the Cardinals.
Stanton is averaging just 14.0 points per game since taking over Palmer. He has five interceptions through five games while the Seattle Seahawks begin to close in on the lead on the conference. It also does not help that Arizona's lone running back Andre Ellington has been struggling with injuries and was just placed on injured reserve after a hip issue. The Cardinals will now turn to Kerwynn Williams who had 100 yards on 19 carries against Kansas City.
Now Arizona prepares to face a Rams team that is much improved from the last time they played, going 3-1 since that loss. The Rams played both Oakland and Washington, beating them 76-0. The Rams have the defense to beat the Cardinals. They limited the Raiders to 244 yards while keeping the Cardinals to just 28 rushing yards, on 22 carries.
The question will be whether or not Shaun Hill and the wide receivers can get past Patrick Peterson and Antonio Cromartie. In the past four games, Hill has completed 62.0 percent of his passes for six touchdowns and just two interceptions. Getting through the Cardinals secondary will not be an easy task for the quarterback.