Rams’ 4 biggest causes for concern vs. Cardinals in wild-card round

The Rams and Cardinals will wrap up the wild-card round on Monday night in a rematch between division rivals. They split the season series 1-1, with the Rams most recently winning in Week 14.

The Rams are favored at home over the Cardinals, but this is by no means going to be an easy victory – especially with the Rams’ recent rash of injuries. While the Cardinals may not be playing their best football, Kyler Murray is a star and they’re likely to have J.J. Watt back on defense.

Here are the Rams’ four biggest causes for concern in the wild-card round.

Lack of depth in the secondary

Week 18 wasn’t kind to the Rams’ secondary. Jordan Fuller went down with a season-ending ankle injury, Taylor Rapp suffered a concussion and Darious Williams injured his shoulder. Williams appears to be fine, but the Rams will be without Fuller and possibly Rapp on Monday night.

Sure, they brought in Eric Weddle, but replacing Fuller – who was their defensive signal caller – isn’t going to be easy. Troy Reeder is expected to take on that role and a combination of Nick Scott, Terrell Burgess and Weddle will fill in for Fuller at safety, but there’s no question this is a downgrade for the Rams. Fuller was a big part of the defense and against an offense like Arizona’s, he’ll be missed both as a tackler and in coverage.

At corner, even with Williams available, Dont’e Deayon or David Long Jr. will need to step up against A.J. Green, Rondale Moore and Christian Kirk because Jalen Ramsey can’t cover all of them.

Slowing down Cardinals’ rushing attack

In the Rams’ Week 4 loss to Arizona, they allowed a season-high 216 yards rushing. The run defense has been good all year, but there has to be some concern about slowing down Kyler Murray, James Conner and Chase Edmonds on the ground.

In the last two weeks, the Rams allowed a total of 300 yards rushing to the Ravens and 49ers. Tackling was a major problem against San Francisco and now the Rams will be without Fuller and possibly Rapp.

If they can’t contain the Cardinals’ ground game, Arizona will be in complete control all night. The Rams must be better as tacklers and can’t allow the Cardinals to play keep-away by maintaining possession with a steady rushing attack.

Matthew Stafford’s turnover issues

The Rams are 3-1 in their last four games, but Matthew Stafford has turned the ball over eight times in that span. They were fortunate to beat the Ravens and Vikings the way they did, and his overtime interception against the 49ers sealed the win for San Francisco. He tied for the most interceptions (17) in the NFL and since Week 9, he’s only played two games out of nine without a turnover.

That’s highly concerning as the Rams get their playoff run underway. They were able to beat bad teams despite his turnover issues, but against a playoff opponent like the Cardinals, that’ll be much tougher to do. He has to take care of the ball, especially when the Rams are deep in their own territory.

Troy Reeder being a weak link

If fans and analysts are aware of it, you can bet Kliff Kingsbury is, too. Reeder is very clearly the weak link in the middle of the Rams’ defense, both against the run and in coverage. The 49ers picked on him last week with creative run designs and throws over the middle, which worked well.

The Cardinals are likely to do the same with Chase Edmonds, James Conner, Zach Ertz and even Christian Kirk. The way to beat the Rams isn’t by targeting Jalen Ramsey. It’s by throwing short, quick passes over the middle where Reeder and now Travin Howard will be forced to make tackles and cover running backs and tight ends.

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