Cardinals at Rams: The Game None of St. Louis Will Get (or Want) to See

To get you ready for week 5, FanHouse is previewing all this week's games. Here is the Arizona Cardinals - St. Louis Rams preview.

2007 Records:
Arizona Cardinals: 2-2 (t-2nd, NFC West)
St. Louis Rams: 0-4 (4th, NFC West)

Last Game:
Cards 21 - Steelers 14
Cowboys 35 - Rams 7

When the Cardinals have the ball:
Are the Cardinals going to actually get the ball, or is Matt Leinart going to take it home in a huff? In all fairness, if Leinart starts this game I don't think he's taking a seat. The Rams' defense is horrid. Not that Leinart will be putting up gaudy numbers like Tony Romo did last week -- the Cards should ride Edgerrin James to an easy victory -- but he'll find Bryant Johnson, I think more than Larry Fitzgerald, for the occasional explosive play. The Rams are getting corner Fahkir Brown back from a four-game suspension, but that shouldn't slow down a Cards team that is beginning to look confident (Leinart aside).

When the Rams have the ball:
They're without their top running back, quarterback, and a few key linemen. They're only averaging 9.8 points a game. Gus Frerotte has thrown just nine passes in two years. The Cardinals are averaging three sacks a game, the Rams are giving up a hair under three. The Cardinals are giving up just 95.5 yards per game rushing and 209.2 through the air, good enough for the 12th-best defense. The Rams have the 29th-ranked offense. You know, sometimes the numbers do tell the whole story.

The Edge:
The let-down game. We all know it. We've all seen it. And the Cardinals have to avoid it. The Ken Whisenhunt Era took two steps forward after beating the Steelers last week. Whisenhunt has to make sure his team stays up this week, because good teams beat the teams they're supposed to. But the Rams are desperate, and that's always dangerous.

Key Matchups:
1) Adrian Wilson vs. the Rams' offense. Wilson, one of the game's best do-it-all safeties, can pretty much have his way with the Rams. I wouldn't be surprised to see a nine-tackle, two-interception, one-sack day. I just can't see how the Rams can stop him.

2) Bryant Johnson vs. Fahkir Brown. Johnson will be playing his second game starting for injured Anquan Boldin, while Brown is returning from suspension. It's easy to forget with the high-profile duo ahead of him, but Johnson was a 17th-overall pick who averaged 18.5 yards per catch last year. He can get deep, which has been one of the Rams' sensitive areas with Brown and Tye Hill out. Let's see if that improves.

3) Scott Linehan vs. Greg Olson. The Rams' play-calling has been painfully conservative this year. Much of that has been a child of necessity -- you can't call too many seven-step drops when your offensive line can't hold up for three -- but Linehan, who's taking over play-calling duties, came to St. Louis under high esteem for his offensive capabilities, and he'll have to figure out a way to get this offense to open up, if just a little bit.