The Arizona Cardinals will take on the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday in Week 10 for the second time this season. In Week 6 at SoFi Stadium, the Cardinals won 18-16 on a last-second field goal.
Can they get the upset again?
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It will be a tough task, as the Cardinals will have rookie Carson Beck making his NFL debut at quarterback. With injuries and trades, the receivers on the roster have a combined eight catches all season. They will have a backup left tackle and third-string center starting.
If the Cardinals are to somehow come away with a win, these are the keys to victory.
Repeat defensive effort of Week 6, Week 9
While the Cardinals have allowed at least 30 points seven times this season, their best performances came against the Rams in Week 6 and last week against the Seattle Seahawks.
They held the Rams to 286 total yards. They forced a turnover and sacked Matthew Stafford twice. They held the Rams to only 92 yards, one of only two games when the Rams failed to rushe for 100 yards.
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With a limited offense, the defense will need to be great.
Succeed running the ball
With Beck in his first game, if he has to throw the ball 40 times, he might not survive the game.
Tyler Allgeier and Bam Knight need to move the chains. Trey McBride is the only real receiving threat this weekend, so he will draw a ton of attention. If they don’t get anything out of the run game, it will be a long game.
Protect Carson Beck
Myles Garrett returned from injured reserve and had three sacks last week. Byron Young has 4.5 sacks this season. Whether it is a strong running game, getting ball out quickly in the pass game or simply blocking well, the Cardinals must protect Beck. The last time the Cardinals had a rookie making his first NFL start, it was Clayton Tune in 2023. The Cardinals lost 27-0, had only 58 yards of offense and Tune was intercepted twice and sacked seven times.
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Rams vs. Cardinals: 3 keys for Arizona win
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