Rams-Cardinals: How will defense slow down Trey McBride?

The Los Angeles Rams (9-3) will travel to Glendale in Week 14 to face the Arizona Cardinals (3-9) in an NFC West tilt. The Rams are coming off a Week 13 loss to the Carolina Panthers while the Cardinals lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to extend their losing streak to four games. It’s clear that both franchises are headed in opposite directions as Arizona has been unable to build anything during the Jonathan Gannon tenure. But, every NFC West matchup is physical and the Rams were exposed last week. Will they bounce back? Here is a breakdown of each team’s roster headed into Sunday…

QBs: Matthew Stafford is human after all. Stafford threw 2 interceptions (one pick six) and lost a fumble on a strip sack. Even despite the three turnovers, the Rams only lost by 3. It was Stafford’s worst game of the year by far. Yet, he still ranks as PFF’s #1 quarterback entering Week 14. Don’t forget, Stafford as a Ram in December, January, and February is 18-4.

Jacoby Brissett might be the best backup quarterback in the NFL. He sports a 72.8 PFF grade and his TD/INT ratio is 66 TDs to 28 INTs. For backup QBs, he’s pretty reliable.

RBs: Blake Corum is making a strong case that he needs to see at least 50% of the carries. Williams and Corum are both averaging 4.7 rushing yards/attempt. McVay should lean into the running game more because not many teams have shown that they can stop it.

The Cardinals don’t have much at the running back position since James Connor is on injured reserve. Bam Knight has been starting games and has only averaged 25.5 yards/game.

WRs: Davante Adams continues to dominate in the red zone. Although, I would like to see the Rams become less dependent on him; using the run game and also Puka Nacua if teams begin to gravitate doubling Adams. Puka Nacua continues to be superman; making highlight reel grabs a normal part of his game these days. Keep an eye on the Rams transactions as they have yet to bring Tutu Atwell back from IR; making it seem like Xavier Smith has leapfrogged him on the depth chart.

UPDATE: The Cardinals will be without Marvin Harrison and Greg Dortch on Sunday. That leaves Michael Wilson, Andre Baccellia, and Xavier Weaver as the primary pass catchers. My initial rating has Arizona at a 3 out of 5. But with the losses of Harrison and Dortch, this easily drops them to 0.5 out of 5.

TEs: The Rams tight ends haven’t been as great as they were during the middle of the season. Higbee’s absence has impacted that. Terrance Ferguson needs to get more involved and that falls on Sean McVay. He is only seeing 1-2 targets game.

Trey McBride has been the lone bright spot for Arizona. The fourth year tight end has accumulated 118 targets (88 receptions), 879 yards, 8 touchdowns. When Arizona needs to move the chains, it is...