The (10-3) Arizona Cardinals head to the Edward Jones Dome on Thursday night to play the much improved (6-7) St. Louis Rams. The Cardinals are (3-3) this season on the road and are trying to hold off the hard-charging Seattle Seahawks in the NFC West. The Rams have won two straight on back-to-back shutouts and look to play the spoiler role in their two remaining divisional games.
A key for the Cardinals will be containing Rams rookie phenom Aaron Donald. Donald is our highest-graded interior lineman at +30.4 and has a grade over +10.0 both rushing the passer and against the run. He ranks second in Run Stop Percentage at 12.3% and eighth in Pass Rushing Productivity at 7.8. The Cardinals will counter with guards Jonathan Cooper and Ted Larsen. Larsen’s overall grade stands at -15.4 and while he has been a positive in the run game at +1.6, his Pass Blocking Efficiency rating of 96.0 ranks only 35th. Cooper will be making only his second start this week after grading -3.4 last week against the Chiefs.
Here are a few other players to watch for.
Arizona Cardinals
Jared Veldheer – Our sixth-ranked tackle with a +16.1 overall grade has positives in both run blocking and pass blocking. Veldheer also ranks eighth in Pass Blocking Efficiency at 96.7.
Jerraud Powers – Powers ranks 16th in our cornerback rankings with a +6.2 coverage grade. When lined up over the slot, quarterbacks only have a 65.5 rating when throwing into his coverage.
Calais Campbell – He currently ranks fifth out of all 3-4 ends with a +27.1 overall grade. His 12.5% Run Stop Percentage ranks first.
St. Louis Rams
Stedman Bailey – Over the last four weeks his overall grade of +9.6 ranks third among wide receivers and our Slot Performance data shows him catching all 12 of his targets from the slot over that time.
Robert Quinn – Quinn has the fifth-highest pass rushing grade for a 4-3 end at +16.9. He also ranks 15th in Pass Rush Productivity at 9.5.
T.J. McDonald – His +15.0 overall grade since Week 9 tops all safeties and his 7.9% Run Stop Percentage ranks third over that time.
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