- WHERE: SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, Calif.)
- WHEN: 8:10 p.m. ET | NFL Network, NFL+
It’s an NFC West clash to end Saturday’s tripleheader on NFL Network with the Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium.
Arizona (7-8) can play spoiler after Jonathan Gannon’s squad fell to the Carolina Panthers in Week 16. Kyler Murray and the Cardinals have dropped four of the last five games leading into Saturday’s game. Now, the Cardinals are eliminated from the playoffs and can use the final two regular-season games to build some chemistry toward the 2025 campaign.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles (9-6) is riding a four-game winning streak as Sean McVay’s team is playing the right way in December. The Rams can clinch the NFC West title with a win, plus some help, due to L.A. having a strength of schedule victory over the Seattle Seahawks.
Can Murray and Co. finish the season on a high note? Can L.A. pave a path to a Lombardi Trophy with a victory? (The Rams' last two squads to win five straight games -- 2018 and 2021 -- reached the Super Bowl.)
Here are two things to watch for when the Cardinals visit the Rams on Saturday on NFL Network and NFL+:
1) Kyler Murray looking to finish the campaign in a positive direction. It’s been a season of highs and lows for the Cardinals QB. With Arizona dropping four of its last five games, Murray is searching for answers to find a positive after the upset loss in Carolina. Murray told reporters this week that he would have a “better” connection with Marvin Harrison Jr. in the final two games of the season. Since Week 12, Harrison Jr. has one touchdown and has managed to have 60-plus receiving yards, once since the stretch. Tight end Trey McBride has only hit pay dirt once, which came off a 2-yard rushing TD in Week 9. Murray has shared on social media that he would like to get McBride a touchdown before the end of the 2024 season. The Cardinals will need Harrison Jr. and McBride’s production to spoil L.A.’s chances to win the NFC West.
2) Can the Rams offense get back on track? It wasn’t that long ago that Matthew Stafford and the Rams offense scored a season-high 44 points against the Buffalo Bills in Week 14. After the outing versus the Bills, L.A. has managed to score fewer than 20 points in back-to-back games. In the last two weeks, Stafford has thrown for 270 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception. Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp have been reliable targets for Stafford when available. Since Week 8, Stafford has been in the top seven in the NFL with 17 pass TDs and a 103.1 passer rating with Nacua and Kupp returning from injury, per NFL Research. The Pro Bowl-caliber play of Kyren Williams has just added another dimension to Sean McVay’s offense. Williams ranks third with 1,243 rushing yards among running backs and has chipped in 15 scrimmage TDs. The return of Tyler Higbee could make this emerging offense more lethal in the final weeks of the season. L.A. has a chance to showcase its talented unit Saturday night for a chance to clinch the NFC West title.