Things are going to look different when the Arizona Cardinals Week 12 rematch against the Los Angeles Rams rolls around on Sunday, due to developments on the injury front that might even benefit head coach Jonathan Gannon's squad.
The big one of course involves who is under center for the Cardinals. Back when these two teams faced off in Week 6, it was Joshua Dobbs taking snaps for Arizona. In that game, Dobbs completed just 21 of 41 pass attempts and tossed an interception. But now, Kyler Murray is back from injury and has already doubled the team's win total from games started by Dobbs/Clayton Tune.
The other major storyline involves Cooper Kupp of the Rams. He had an eye-popping performance against his NFC West rivals earlier this season. Kupp hauled in seven catches for 148 yards and a touchdown.
But Kupp is nowhere near a lock to suit up on Sunday. He's dealing with an ankle injury that caused him to miss practice on Wednesday, then logged a limited practice on Thursday. Coupled with a hamstring injury that caused the wideout to miss the first four games of this season, and Kupp's health is an absolute concern.
Let's get some Cardinals Week 12 predictions on the board and try to figure out how this juicy NFC West matchup will play out.
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Kyler-Hollywood finally sync up
Hollywood Brown hasn't been able to enjoy the fruits of Kyler Murray's return to the lineup this season quite yet. He's logged just two catches for 46 yards from Murray, but there's reason to believe a breakout is coming.
For one, Murray has been looking Brown's way, targeting him nine times already in two games. The duo almost linked up on two big plays in Week 11's loss to the Houston Texans as well. Facing a Rams secondary that routinely gives up big plays, Murray and Brown will again have opportunities to connect in the passing game.
Brown's heel injury is somewhat worrying, but we'll chance it that the veteran suits up, and when he does, he reels in a couple of deep shots with his now healthy QB1.
No repeat of The Kyren Williams Show
In round 1 of this matchup in Week 6, Kyren Williams had himself a day. 20 carries, 158 yards and a score. That's also the last time the explosive back played, as he suffered an ankle injury late in the game and hit the IR, missing the team's next four contests.
Williams is set to return on Sunday, but he might not enjoy such an easy game this time around.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is once again banged up and dealing with various knocks that he guts through week after week. As mentioned, his favorite target Cooper Kupp is also not the picture of health these days.
Arizona's defense has surrendered 44 points in the last two weeks, an improvement over past performances this season. If the Cardinals' defensive unit can focus its attention more on Williams with Sean McVay's passing game compromised by health, it should be able to not get totally gashed like it did earlier by Williams.
Cardinals even up season series with Rams
It hasn't been totally smooth sailing, but the Cardinals have been a competitive unit with Murray back in the lineup. After logging five double-digit losses in six tries, Murray led the team to victory in Week 10. Arizona followed that up with a five-point defeat in Week 11 against a surging Texans team.
It's also time for Murray to start balancing out his 1-7 career record vs. the Rams. Why not start on Sunday? It should be a tight one, but look for Murray and the Cardinals to pull off the win at home.
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