Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams enter Week 6 with a familiar problem in a less familiar place: they’re under .500, but still being asked to act like a double-digit favorite.
Los Angeles is 2-3 after five weeks, sitting third in the NFC West and coming off an overtime loss to Buffalo at home. Even so, the Rams are laying 12.5 points against the 1-4 Arizona Cardinals in a divisional matchup that looks lopsided on paper. The total has also nudged down a bit, moving from 52.5 to 51.5 since Sunday night.
Arizona’s season has gone in the opposite direction since its Week 1 upset over the Los Angeles Chargers. That win has lost some shine with the Chargers now 0-5, and the Cardinals have dropped four straight since then while giving up more than 30 points in every one of those losses. The roster picture has shifted too, with the team trading former top-five pick Marvin Harrison Jr. to the Houston Texans.
At this point, the Cardinals look headed for a rough finish, and the article suggests rookie Carson Beck may eventually get a look under center as the team tracks toward a top-five pick in the 2027 NFL Draft.
There is at least one angle working in Arizona’s favor. SI Betting’s Iain MacMillan, in his Road to 272 column, made the case for the Cardinals to cover because of the Rams’ special teams, which he called “the worst special teams in the league and has been for the past couple of years.” He wrote, “If they make another blunder in Week 6, it's going to tee the Cardinals up to at least cover this big point spread.”
MacMillan also pointed to Arizona’s offense, arguing that the Cardinals have enough weapons to be “at least somewhat effective in this game against a Rams team on a short week.”
Still, there’s a strong counterargument here. Arizona’s defense has been one of the league’s weakest, and the Cardinals have already been blown out by Seattle and Detroit this season. Since the Chargers win, they’ve also given up over 30 points to Detroit, the New York Giants, Seattle and San Francisco.
That’s why the Rams’ offense is hard to ignore in this one. Los Angeles remains a top-five pass defense in 2026, ranking fourth in EPA/Pass, but the expectation here is that the Rams’ attack can still pile up points - enough to push toward 40 and control this game at home.
The bottom line: the Rams are expected to get a much-needed win, and the question is whether they can do it by enough to cash as a heavy favorite against Jacoby Brissett and the Cardinals.
In Other News...
Rams Face A Familiar Threat To Stafford And The Offense
The Rams next trip into the NFC West brings more than a divisional opponent. When they line up against the Cardinals, Sean McVay will be facing Mike LaFleur for the first time as a head coach on the other sideline, a familiar face from McVays own staff and part of a coaching tree that has shaped plenty of recent Rams football. The connection runs deeper than just one meeting, with McVay, LaFleur and Matt LaFleur all tied together through years of shared ideas and overlapping success, while Matthew Stafford has also had a front-row seat to how that family of coaches works.
For the Rams, the matchup is another reminder that the league keeps circling back to relationships as much as schemes. McVay has spoken highly of Mike LaFleurs impact, and Stafford has too, which makes this one feel a little different than a standard division game. Theres still the usual stake of a divisional test, but theres also the added layer of two coaches who know each other well and an offense trying to stay ahead of a defense that has seen plenty of the same concepts from the same coaching line. [Read more 🡒]
Rams Special Teams Problem Has Become Impossible To Ignore
The Rams have spent enough time trying to patch the issue that it is no longer possible to call it a one-week hiccup. Their special teams have been a problem all season, and the numbers have reflected it in ugly fashion, with the unit sitting last in several key categories. Los Angeles has already started to address it by moving on from kicker Harrison Mevis and bringing in cornerback Damarion Williams to help the coverage units, but the fixes so far have only underscored how deep the concern runs.
Bubba Ventrone now has a unit under the microscope, and the pressure is not just on the players trying to make tackles and flip field position. Les Snead has shown a willingness to keep adjusting the roster when something is not working, and special teams may be headed for more of that scrutiny if the Rams do not clean things up soon. For a team trying to stay sharp everywhere else, this phase of the game has become the one area it can least afford to keep ignoring. [Read more 🡒]
Rashod Bateman Trade Buzz Could Put Ravens In A Tough Spot
With the Rams sitting at 2-3, the search for offensive help is already starting to take on some urgency, and Baltimore wide receiver Rashod Bateman has surfaced as a name to watch. Bleacher Reports Gary Davenport pegged Los Angeles as a possible landing spot, pointing to the teams need for more receiver depth and Batemans track record as reasons the fit could make sense.
Bateman has shown enough this season to keep his name in the conversation, with one touchdown, 16 catches and 233 receiving yards in five games. For the Rams, any move of this sort would be about adding another reliable target and reshaping the passing game around the stretch run, while the possibility of a deal could leave Baltimore weighing whether it can afford to part with a receiver who still has plenty of value in the market. [Read more 🡒]