Arizona Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Rams Odds, Spread, Preview: NFL Week 10 Predictions

By Lawrence Smelser

Arizona Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Rams Week 10 matchup preview and current betting lines

The Rams will lock horns with their NFC West rivals, the Cardinals on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET. The matchup will be broadcasted by FOX. 

Last year, Los Angeles knocked out the Cardinals in the Wildcard round of the postseason. Close to a year later, both teams are just trying to survive to be able to reach the playoffs. 

The Cardinals (3-6) started last season 7-0. In 2022, it’s been extremely rough. Kliff Kingsbury’s squad has lost four of the last five games.

The Super Bowl champion Rams (3-5) are certainly having a hangover and need to cure it with a win over Arizona.  McVay’s men are currently on a two-game losing streak.

The Cardinals are coming off a 31-21 loss to the Seahawks in which it never looked like they were comfortable. After the Seahawks took a 17-14 lead with 2:43 left in the third quarter, they never trailed again.

It seems as if there is a sideline spat every couple of weeks now with the Cardinals. From quarterback Kyler Murray yelling profanities at Kingsbury to calm down, to last week when wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins criticized Murray.

The Kyler & Kliff spatpic.twitter.com/H2US1R4vue

— Kyle Odegard (@Kyle_Odegard) October 21, 2022

Los Angeles appeared to have moved its season back to a .500 record last week against Tampa Bay barring a Tom Brady comeback miracle. The miracle did indeed occur as Brady marched down the field in 35 seconds with no timeouts for a 6-play, 60-yard scoring drive. Brady found Cade Otton with nine seconds left to secure a 16-13 victory and break the Rams’ hearts.

The current moneyline odds for this matchup on FanDuel Sportsbook are Arizona (+130) vs. Los Angeles (-154). Oddsmakers favor the Eagles as 3-point favorites at -110 odds. Among the public, 51% of spread bets have been placed on the Rams to cover, while 78% of the money is on the Cardinals to win straight up.

Players to watch in the Cardinals vs. Rams contest

Arizona

Zach Ertz: Arizona landed Ertz from the Eagles during midseason last year for cornerback Tay Gowan and a 2022 fifth-round draft pick. The Stanford product has been a safety blanket and one of Murray’s favorite targets since he arrived in Scottsdale. The former second-rounder has recorded 46 receptions for 394 yards and four touchdowns. He’ll continue to be targeted heavily while WR Marquis Brown sits out due to injury. 

Los Angeles

Allen Robinson II: The former Bear was signed during the offseason to a three-year, $46.5 million contract that includes $30.7 million guaranteed to be the secondary weapon behind Cooper Kupp. Robinson’s usage has been frustrating for himself, fans and fantasy owners. The former Penn State Nittany Lion only has 25 receptions (T-79th) for 248 yards (88th) and two touchdowns in eight games. 

Our NFL bet of the week for the Cardinals vs. Rams

ESTNN is providing bettors with two free selections for this game.

Arizona vs. Los Angeles Alternate Spread: Arizona +3.5 @ -128

The last time these two teams faced off the Rams triumphed 20-12. Arizona was without its star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins at the time. Hopkins came back on an absolute tear in his first two games since returning from a 6-game suspension. Against New Orleans and Minnesota, Hopkins recorded 22 receptions for 262 yards and a touchdown. He slowed down last week against Seattle and had just 36 yards but did reach the end zone. 

Kyler Murray was expected by many staffers in the Arizona organization to take a step forward after last season. The opposite has happened and Murray has struggled this season with a 47.8 quarterback rating (ranked 21st of 32 quarterbacks).

The former No. 1 pick is dangerous thanks to his dual-threat ability. Murray leads the Cardinals in rushing with 359 yards (6.1 yards per carry) and two touchdowns. 

Super Bowl MVP Matthew Stafford has really fallen off a cliff compared to last year. In 2021, Stafford threw for 4,886 yards and 41 touchdowns, 17 interceptions and had a QBR of 69.2 (fourth in the league). 

This season, the former Georgia Bulldog has 1,928 yards, eight touchdowns and eight interceptions (3rd-worst). His QBR of 46.2 is worse than Murray’s puts him at 23rd in the NFL. 

A large reason for his downfall is the team’s lack of weapons and a running game. Odell Beckham tore his ACL in the Super Bowl and became a free agent while Robert Woods departed to Tennessee in the offseason. 

The rushing attack for the Rams has been an atrocity. The unit ranks 2nd-worst in the NFL in both yards per game (68.2) and yards per attempt (3.2). This allows defenses to succeed against the pass and hurts play action.

For total offense, Los Angeles ranks second-worst with an average of 286 yards per game. In terms of points per game, the Rams are scoring just 16.4 (29th). Defensively, they have been better, sporting the 8th-ranked unit (allowing 312.4 YPG) and surrendering 21.6 PPG (17th).

Arizona’s offense is posting 22.6 points per contest (16th) and 337.7 yards per week (14th). On defense, the Cardinals rank second-worst in the league allowing 26.8 PPG and are  27th in total defense (368.9 YPG).

Los Angeles has gone three and out 27.9% of the time in the second half this year — fourth-worst in NFL. Arizona has forced its opponents to go three and out on 31.2% of drives during second halves — second-best in NFL.

The Cardinals are 10-4 against the spread in their last 14 road contests and are 4-5 ATS this season. The Rams are 1-5 ATS in their previous six games at home and are 2-5-1 ATS in 2022.

This divisional battle will likely come down to the wire on Sunday. Our pick at ESTNN is to take Arizona to cover an alternate 3.5-point spread on FanDuel Sportsbook (-128 odds). 

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Cardinals vs. Rams odds: Cooper Kupp anytime touchdown scorer yards @ -130

The 2021 AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year has scored six receiving touchdowns and one rushing in eight games this season. Kupp has also broken the plane in three of his last four outings. 

Last year Kupp recorded 16 touchdowns in 17 games (.94 TDs per game) and scored in 11 of the contests. The 29-year-old has been targeted 11 times in the red zone and has eight receptions inside the 20-yard line which is tied for the most in the NFL. 

Los Angeles wideouts have been targeted 20 times inside the 10-yard line this year — tied for the most in the league. The Cardinals have allowed five touchdowns by wide receivers inside the 10-yard line this season — tied for second-most in the NFL.

We believe it’s wise to bet Kupp to score a touchdown against a weak Cardinals defense that ranks 25th against the pass (253.4 YPG). The prop bet is available on DraftKings (-130 odds). 

If you’re interested in learning about more prop bets for week 10, read our NFL player props page.

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