Arizona vs Los Angeles Preview

When-

January 17, 8:15 pm ET, SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA

Matchup-

Arizona- 5 Seed (NFC West) 11-6 overall

Los Angeles- 4 Seed (NFC West) 12-5 overall

Why Arizona will win-

The Cardinals have been at their best on the road against the NFL’s best beating Tennessee, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Dallas. Going to Los Angeles for a primetime playoff game certainly isn’t going to faze them having already won there in convincing fashion back in October. QB Kyler Murray completed 24 of 32 passes for 268 yards and 2 TD’s in that game but it was the rushing attack led by Chase Edmonds, James Conner, and Murray that gashed the Rams defense for 216 yards. Arizona received good news with Edmonds (ribs/toe) getting cleared to play after sitting out the season finale. Murray will face a depleted Rams secondary that was forced to sign Eric Weddle out of retirement to fill in for injured safety Jordan Fuller

Why Los Angeles will win-

The Rams looked much better the second time around in Arizona albeit without having to see Edmonds in the backfield. QB Matthew Stafford completed 23 of 30 passes for 287 yards and 3 touchdowns and the Rams defense was able to sack Murray 4 times and force 2 interceptions. If the game is close Los Angeles has the league’s second most accurate place kicker in Matt Gay who has converted 32 of 34 attempts including 4 of 5 from 50 plus yards. Both Edmonds and Conner are coming off injuries.

Key to the Game-

Can Matthew Stafford deliver? The Rams QB is under enormous pressure carrying an 0-3 playoff record into Monday’s game and letting a 17-0 lead slip away last week against San Francisco to fall to the number 4 seed. Stafford was brought in to take the team to the next level and getting bounced in the Wild Card round would be a major disappointment.

Eye Test Analytics Predicted Score- Los Angeles by 3.8 points