GLENDALE Justin Layne Jersey , Ariz. (AP) — The Arizona Cardinals might just be the antidote for what’s ailing the Los Angeles Rams.and have the NFC’s second-best record behind New Orleans (12-2). But Los Angeles has lost two in a row, 15-6 at Chicago and, last week, 30-23 to Philadelphia.So the Cardinals (3-11), 1-6 at home and at the bottom of the NFL standings under first-year coach Steve Wilks, would seem a welcome opponent when the teams square off Sunday in Arizona’s final home game of its difficult season.Article continues below ...Of course, Rams coach Sean McVay would never say that even if he thought it was true.“That’s certainly not our attitude,” he said. “Our attitude is that we have a lot of respect for this football team and for coach Wilks, and we’ve got to be ready to go. There’s a lot of great players on both sides – proven, high-caliber players, some Hall of Fame players, perennial Pro Bowl players. We’ve got to be ready to go.”The Cardinals were gashed for a season-worst 215 yards on the ground in their 40-14 blowout loss at Atlanta last week. The could mean a big day for Todd Gurley http://www.steelersfootballauthentics.com/benny-snell-jr.-jersey-authentic , if he’s healthy. McVay indicated on Wednesday he expected his prolific running back to play after being limited by knee inflammation this week.“We expect that if he progresses the way that we anticipate, that he’ll be ready to go,” McVay said.Gurley didn’t have a big day statistically but ran for three touchdowns in Los Angeles’ 34-0 home rout of Arizona in Week 2.Jared Goff threw for 354 yards in that game, but is going through a rough stretch. In the last three games, he’s thrown for one touchdown and been intercepted six times.“I think each game is independent of each other,” he said. “I don’t think there’s one singular thing. Look at last game, made a couple dumb plays that hurt us and you can’t do that.”The Rams are two-touchdown favorites. Here are some things to consider about the game:FITZGERALD’S FINALEThis might be Larry Fitzgerald’s final home game of his spectacular 15-year NFL career. Then again, it might not.Fitzgerald, as is his custom, was not at all forthcoming on the subject of his retirement when the subject was broachedThursday.“If I decide to retire, I’ll let you guys know, seriously,” he said. “So I don’t know why we keep asking these questions. You know me. I’ve been answering for the last three years. Nothing’s going to change.”In other words Zach Gentry Jersey , when he decides, he’ll let everyone know.Fitzgerald has caught a pass in 226 consecutive games and recently passed Jerry Rice’s record for most catches with one team.With a TD catch on Sunday, he’d have 19 in his career against the Rams. Only Rice has more against a single team, 25 against Atlanta and 20 against the Rams.GOFF’S CONFIDENCEGoff said he thought that toward the end of the Philadelphia game, the Rams got back to being themselves on offense.“I felt like we moved the ball really well and we were able to build off some things there and able to kind of take what the defense was giving us,” he said. “I felt like I learned a lot in the last game and was able to grow.”Goff said it’s not that defenses are figuring them out.“I think it always comes back to us, just doing what we do — executing,” he said. “Defenses are going to present different looks every game and that’s no excuse. It happens every game. It’s happened every game we’ve played this year. So, it just comes down to us executing and being our best and just really focusing on the details.”RAM BACKSWith Gurley’s status a bit shaky, the Rams signed veteran running back C.J. Anderson this week.Even if Gurley plays, there could be some action for Anderson.“Could really see him playing a role this week,” McVay said, “very sharp L.J. Collier Jersey , cerebral player. He’s played in some systems very similar in terms of the verbiage, some of the things we try to emphasize specific to the running game and in protection.”PHAROH SWITCHReturn specialist and wide receiver Pharoh Cooper went from a Super Bowl contender to a leading candidate for the No. 1 draft pick this week when he was waived by Los Angeles and claimed by the Cardinals.“It’s going to be great to see all those guys,” he said of facing the Rams so soon. “I’ve built so many relationships with them.That’s still family over there, but at the end of the day I play for the Cardinals now.”HOLIDAY SACKSArizona defensive end Chandler Jones is donating $20,000 for every sack he gets in the final two games — against the Rams and Seattle — to Phoenix Children’s Hospital. He has 5 1-2 career sacks against Los Angeles and 8 1-2 against the Seahawks. Coach Jon Gruden was in no mood to rehash Denver’s final drive that handed the Oakland Raiders a second straight defeat to open his tenure as coach.Case Keenum and the Broncos were able to move the ball down the field with little pressure in the heat and altitude of Denver and get a 36-yard field goal from Brandon McManus in the closing seconds of a 20-19 victory Sunday.A second straight game with no consistent pass rush raised an obvious question for Gruden about whether the decision to trade edge rusher Khalil Mack, who was holding out, to Chicago for a package of draft picks was a wise move.“It doesn’t make me regret,” Gruden said Monday. “We made the trade. We made the trade. There has got to be hindsight, 50-50, all that stuff. We would have loved to have him here and I’m not going to keep rehashing this. I would have loved to (have) coached him, loved to have him here, but he’s not here. Somebody’s got to step up.”That hasn’t happened through two games so far this season as Oakland has just two sacks combined in losses to the Los Angeles Rams and Broncos in the opening two weeks.Bruce Irvin, who used to be nicknamed Robin to Mack’s Batman http://www.seahawksfootballauthentics.com/marquise-blair-jersey-authentic , has been unable to deliver with the bigger responsibility of being the top pass rusher. He had one sack in the opener against the Rams but didn’t provide much this past week.He committed a personal foul that extended a touchdown drive for the Broncos after Oakland had appeared to make a third-down stop and looked gassed on the final drive when Keenum moved the ball from his 10 to the Oakland 18 with under two minutes remaining.“Well obviously we need to get more out of our captain,” Gruden said. “He’s put in some tough spots, certainly. He’s a good player. He’s had some really good snaps. We need more and more from him. I know he’s giving us everything he has and it’s tough on him, certainly, because we do have a lot of new guys around him upfront. We’re happy he’s here.”The Raiders also hoped to get a boost from three rookie draft picks in end Arden Key and tackles P.J. Hall and Maurice Hurst. Key excelled in the preseason but has looked overmatched at times now that the regular season has started.Hurst had the team’s only sack Sunday and Hall played on an injured ankle for much of the opener before missing the game against the Broncos and likely a little more time.The lack of a pass rush has played a role in Oakland struggling in the second half the first two weeks. The Raiders led both games at halftime but have been outscored 43-7 in the final two quarters for the worst second-half scoring margin in the league.They had chances to close out the Broncos even before the defense allowed the game-winning drive. Early in the fourth quarter, fullback Keith Smith dropped a pass from Derek Carr on fourth-and-1 from the Denver 33.Instead of the Raiders going in for another score to extend a 19-10 lead, the Broncos took over and drove for a touchdown.Oakland got the ball back with less than six minutes to go and a chance to ice the game. The Raiders got two first downs but a double pass interference call against Denver’s Bradley Roby and Oakland’s Amari Cooper wiped out a 29-yard gain to Cooper.Then a false start on second-and-4 by tight end Jared Cook helped stall the drive and led to a punt that set up Denver’s winning drive.“This is the National Football League. You have to be able to finish the game,” Raiders cornerback Rashaan Melvin said. “That’s something we haven’t done as a team and we really need to focus on doing.”___
