Cardinals will be “very, very careful” with Carson Palmer

What comes this Sunday at University of Phoenix Stadium could determine the direction of the season.

The Cardinals turned the ball over five times last week and that can not happen if they want a chance to win the game this week. Quarterback Case Keenum hasn’t faced the vaunted Arizona defense since 2013 with Houston, watching both matchups last season as Nick Foles’ backup.

Credit the Cardinals’ rush defense for stepping up after yielding over 200 rushing yards at Buffalo last weekend. He has averaged over 17 points a week and is facing a Rams defense that has been surprisingly susceptible to the run. “Our focus is more on Arizona, however, than it is on our team penalties”.

Carson Palmer endured a miserable afternoon in a 33-18 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

The L.A. Rams got their second straight win by a score of 37-32 over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to improve to 2-1 on the year. A perfectly thrown, back-shoulder completion to Quick put the Rams ahead for good, 17-13. On the first, he was intercepted by Mark Barron. In the receiving end, Tavon Austin posted 82 yards and a touchdown in five receptions while Brian Quick added 53 yards and a touchdown in two receptions. Heading into Week 4, the only passer rating among starting quarterback’s worse than Keenum’s 66.1 was Ryan Fitzpatrick’s 59.3. Carson Palmer had a horrendous game as he threw four interceptions and could not manage to move the chains when needed.

This is new territory for an Arizona team accustomed to success under Arians. It’s hard to argue with anything the Rams have been doing in their kicking game.

After a 25-yard field goal by Catanzaro, who was working with a new long snapper in Aaron Brewer and a new holder in Quigley, the Rams were able to force the Cardinals’ secondary into more mistakes. Arizona plugged one defensive hole Sunday, but another hole opened right up, and that’s another long-term concern for the Birdgang.

Now the team will turn to Stanton to try to get a victory in San Francisco.

Well not anymore, as they fall 0-1 in division, 1-3 overall, in a tough home loss to Los Angeles. The problem? The Cardinals have yet to win a playoff game under Arians.

Quinn admitted afterward he was dog exhausted after a long afternoon playing in the Florida humidity – not to mention the toll an hour and 10-minute weather delay took on his body – but he emptied his tank chasing down Winston five yards from the goal line to push the Rams to the top of the NFC West standings.

The Rams and the Seattle Seahawks are both 3-1, but the Rams hold the tiebreaker for the division lead. He’s won 7 of his past 10 starts.

Let’s not blow things out of proportion, but the Rams showed something last week. They will look to regain their credibility as an elite team this weekend. Arizona hosts Los Angeles. “It was one of our worst performances from our offense in a long time”. Arizona has eschewed the intermediate passing game – the trademark of the modern National Football League – and is instead running a lot of deep looks and halfback screens. Gaines hasn’t played this season because of a quad injury and was injured throughout the preseason. We’re about to learn. They don’t necessarily need a ton of sacks, but consistent pressure and making Palmer uncomfortable will make a big-time difference on Sunday. It was a great, winning team.

No matter how much he’s struggled this season, that’s the last thing the Cardinals wanted. Look for this one to follow a familiar pattern. The Rams are coming off a game where they exploded for 38 points, in a victory against the Tampa Bay Bucs.

Quick caught only 10 passes for 102 yards and his future with the team was in doubt in training camp.

The Rams failed to capitalize on the turnover by Palmer, and he made sure he got retribution.