Win on Monday night over Rams can do more for Cardinals than just earning playoff spot

The Cardinals know what’s at stake Monday night when they meet the Rams at State Farm Stadium. If they beat LA, they clinch a playoff spot. They’ll be headed to the postseason for the first time since 2015, ending the longest active playoff drought by any team in the NFC.

There’s also the mystique and magnitude of playing in primetime on ESPN’s "Monday Night Football."

“You’re the only game on TV and all eyes are on you,” wide receiver Christian Kirk said. “It’s a big stage and obviously there’s a lot of national recognition that comes with it. It’s just another opportunity for us to take the field and show how good a team we are.”

The Cardinals (10-2) might have the best record in the NFL, but when it comes to speculating about Super Bowl contenders most of the national pundits and radio and television talking heads seem to favor the Buccaneers and Packers along with the Patriots, Ravens and Chiefs, among others.

Not everyone, though.

“They are as good as any team in the NFL,” said ABC and ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, the former NFL safety and club executive. “They’re very diverse and able to play in multiple ways, offensively and defensively. … They’re equipped to deal with anybody and I think with a big win on Monday, they can get some of the national respect that maybe they’ve been lacking.”

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Arizona’s players are more than aware of the constant slights and they keep using it for added motivation as they try to finish what they’ve started. It doesn’t end by just sweeping the Rams (8-4), clinching a playoff berth or reaching 11 wins in their first 13 games for just the third time in franchise history (2015 and 1948).

“It means a lot, but it’s the next game,” center Rodney Hudson said. “It’s one game at a time. Every game is a big game because it’s the next game.”

That’s the mantra the Cardinals love to live by because their expectations are through the roof. It’s helped them stay grounded and kept them paying attention to the tiniest of details. It’s gotten them this far, on the verge of making the playoffs. If they beat the Rams and win one of their remaining four games after that — or if the Rams lose one extra game — the Cardinals will also wrap up the NFC West title.

“It’s great,” Cardinals defensive tackle Corey Peters said of being 10-2. “We have the highest of expectations and are goals are set really high, so we know that we’re not where we need to be. We’ve got to continue to improve in order to achieve those goals. But obviously, being in first place right now, it doesn’t get any better than that.”

As the season has moved forward, Peters said the Cardinals’ expectations have only increased.

“We had extremely high goals to start the season, but as you start playing games and you have success, the expectation level grows,” he said. “I will say it does continue to evolve week to week based on the way we perform. I think this team knows that we’re capable of beating anybody, but that doesn’t just happen.

“We have to put it together and play a good game. This is the next test. This Monday, it’s a great test for us. The Rams are a great team, a team we expect to be in the playoffs, so these are the type of games we’re going to have to win to get what we want.”

The Cardinals will get a bit of a break Monday night knowing they won’t have to face Rams running back Darrell Henderson Jr., who was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. Sony Michel will get the bulk of the carries now and yet stopping the run has been a real issue for the Cardinals at times this season.

But overall, the Cardinals have a bigger problem to solve. They haven’t played nearly as well at home as they have on the road, where they’ve won each of their first seven games for the first time in team history. Arizona is just the second team in NFL history to win each of its first seven road games by 10 or more points, joining the 1968 Cowboys.

At home, the Cardinals tend to come out a little flat and play a little sloppy. No one seems to have a rational explanation for it, other than they know it has to change.

“That’s something that has to be different than it has been,” said quarterback Kyler Murray, who with one touchdown pass would become just the ninth player in NFL history to throw 20 or more touchdowns in each of his first three seasons. “You look at our record, undefeated on the road, 3-2 at home.

“Our closer games have been at home. We start slow at home. There’s a lot things we talk about at home that we don’t do on the road. We’ve got to somehow bring that type of energy and it’s got to be different because what we’ve been doing hasn’t been working.”

If they want to play better at home on Monday night, they can start by trying to slow down Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Cooper Kupp. They both rank among the NFL leaders and can take over a game between themselves.

When the Rams have been vulnerable, it’s usually only when they turn the ball over. When they don’t have giveaways, they’re one of the most dangerous offenses in the game.

“They’re super dangerous,” Riddick told The Republic. “I mean look, Matthew Stafford, it’s easy and convenient and people have been waiting to dump all over him and say he’s just the same guy he was in Detroit. But he’s a special talent at quarterback and he always gives them a shot. As long as he protects the football, they’re going to be right there.

“What they need to do is, they can’t just let him sit back there in the (shot) gun and throw it all over the place and be so one-dimensional. That’s something they tried to get away from last week (in a win over the Jaguars). They tried to re-establish their run game and look, Sony might be the third guy for them behind (injured) Cam (Akers), Darrell and now him, but Sony is no slouch. Sony is a starting-caliber running back in the NFL.”

A capable running game will only help set up the play-action scenarios that Rams coach Sean McVay loves to dial up to exploit opposing defenses. If they stray from that familiar identity and start turning the ball over by throwing it too much, “They’re cooked, man,” according to Riddick.

Whether they win or they lose, the Cardinals already have at least one believer in Riddick.

“The Cardinals don’t have a whole lot of weaknesses,” he said. “I know people are like, ‘Oh, b------t, not the Cardinals. You can’t say that about the Cardinals’ Well, the hell you can’t. Because look, their quarterback is playing MVP-caliber football. His statistics, as measured by advanced metrics, are historically good.

“They’ve got a physical offensive line, two good (running) backs, a fleet of wide receivers, a good tight end now. They’ve got one of the best pass rushers this game has seen in the past 20 years. People just don’t associate Chandler Jones with that, but the truth is he is. They’ve got great athletes and linebackers that just need to continue to get better and they’ve got one of the best secondaries in the NFL. They don’t have a lot of weaknesses, man.”

Note

Cardinals defensive backs coach Marcus Robertson will not attend Monday’s game due to COVID-19 protocols and his duties will be assumed by other members of the defensive coaching staff.

Have an opinion on the Arizona Cardinals? Reach McManaman at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic.com and follow him on Twitter @azbobbymac. Listen to him live on Fox Sports 910-AM every Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 on Calling All Sports with Roc and Manuch..

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Cardinals can clinch a playoff berth with win over Rams Monday night