The only reason this is basically a pick ‘em is because of the Rams’ extensive injury list. Otherwise, Los Angeles would be a notable favorite in this road spot. Arizona did not impress in Week 1, continuing to show an inability to stop the run. Kyler Murray has struggled against Sean McVay, who has an even more dominant record against the Cardinals as a whole (13-2 straight up). Matthew Stafford, Kyren Williams and Cooper Kupp should be enough -- even with a reduced offensive line -- to get this done.

Williams is part of a team that ran a whopping 74 plays last week and he barely skated over this number. I make him 14.75 so I’ll grab the value.

Stafford and Company will run less plays this week, but I still project him at 25 or 26 completions so this is nice value

After one game, the Rams already have reached midseason injury form. Stellar WR Puka Nacua -- out. Two top O-linemen -- out. The RT moves to LT. The center is a rookie. Lot for L.A. to overcome. Driving this nearly pick-'em line is coach Sean McVay's 7-0 record (SU and ATS) at Arizona. Doubt he's ever brought a beat-up team to the desert as he will today. The Cardinals were competitive at Buffalo in opening week. A rinse-and-repeat should do the trick here.

The Rams are banged up to start the season with injuries to WR Puka Nacua, and multiple offensive linemen. However, the market has overcorrected and I do not feel Los Angeles should be the underdogs in this matchup. The Rams gave the Lions a great fight in Week 1 and showed some real defensive improvements, neutralizing star WR Amon-Ra St. Brown. QB Matthew Stafford and WR Cooper Kupp look to be in vintage form, and can still drive this offense alongside RB Kyren Williams. Following a loss, the Rams are 24-15-3 ATS under Sean McVay. On the other hand, Cardinals QB Kyler Murray is 5-11 ATS when playing as a home favorite. The Cardinals are being overrated because they played the Bills close.

In Week 1 at Detroit, Rams safety Quentin Lake played 79 percent of his snaps at the line of scrimmage. He finished with 10 combined tackles and a 16.4 percent tackle rate. With linebacker and tackling machine Ernest Jones traded to Tennessee right before the season, Lake is stepping up to fill some of that void. Lake (hip) is officially questionable to face Arizona after getting in only limited practices. There's always the chance he gets knocked out early. That's the biggest risk with this play.

This is just as much about the matchup as it is McBride. The Rams reliably play heavy zone coverage from game to game. That's important -- in nine games with Kyler Murray in this iteration of the Cardinals offense, McBride has seen a 28.4% target per route run rate. It basically means one out of every four passes Murray throws goes to McBride when they face zone coverage. And Murray has averaged roughly 10 yards per catch with McBride on those completions, so he would only need five grabs to hit this over. Or, he could just do what he's done in each of his previous two games against the Rams and collect at least 60 yards. Either way, it sounds good for McBride.

With Puka Nacua on the shelf, the target distribution increases for guys like Tyler Johnson. We actually witnessed this last week as Johnson ran the second most routes behind Cooper Kupp (tallying 5 receptions for 79 yards). Matt Stafford is slated to throw for approximately 250 yards so there is plenty to go around to guys like Johnson and Robinson even if Cooper Kupp hits his yardage total.

We loved this game all the way back in Week 1 and made plays on Rams as small favorite. And we are now going to take some plus money. Sean McVay owns the Cardinals, the Rams can sort out the OL and game plan a win. Rams defense is better than its given credit for. Aaron Donald was the only reason Kyler Murray has an 81.2 rating vs LA. Rams have won 7 of their last 9 games in reg season, only loses at BAL and DET, both in OT. Matthew Stafford is locked in. Cardinals D was 31st in points allowed last season and still look very shaky to me. McVay's average win in this series is by 13.4 points

It looked strangely familiar for the Cards, blowing a halftime lead at Buffalo in an eventual 34-28 loss last week. Such was the pattern of several games last season under then-new HC Jonathan Gannon, as the Big Red often raced out to early leads before eventually capitulating. Lack of a consistent ground game and defensive issues contributed to the issues last season, which is enough in itself to be skeptical about laying any points at all this week vs. Rams. There's more, however, as LA has owned this series since Sean McVay arrived (13-2 SU and vs. line), and back to St Louis days, the Rams have won and covered eight straight in Glendale. Why again are the Rams being made an underdog? Play Rams

Kyren WIlliams is a scrimmage monster, gobbling up yards, and with a beat up OL and no Puca Nacua I expect him to feast in Sean McVay's offense vs a defense McVay has owned. Williams averages 108 scrimmage yards in 13 games as a Ram and had 158 and 204 vs them last season. Week 1 got away from Rams in game flow and couldnt get volume in run game. Makeshift OL lends itself to pounding ball and Williams can break big gains in the screen game as well. Dynamic Bills back James Cook had 104 scrimmage vs AZ last week.

The Rams and Cardinals do not play close games since Sean McVay got to LA and I don't see that changing here. No game has been settled by less than 7 points of the 14 they have played. McVay is 11-2-1 ATS vs AZ, covering those games on average by 8 points more than the number. Kyler Murray is 1-7 vs LAR with 8 TD passes to 6 INTs and that all ain't because of Aaron Donald. Rams won 26-9 and 37-14 in this series last year. Rams are the superior team and the deeper team. I don't think AZ can play from behind and I expect McVay to have it dialed up early