Cardinals Visit Rams as Underdogs in NFC West Matchup on Thursday

St. Louis Opened as a 3-point Home Favorite Against Arizona.

Week 15 of the NFL season starts with a key NFC West matchup between the Arizona Cardinals (10-3) and St. Louis Rams (6-7) on Thursday Night Football. The Cardinals are still atop the division with a one-game lead over the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, but they opened as 3-point road underdogs against the Rams at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook. St. Louis has since moved up to -4.5 at the SuperBook with the total sitting at 39.5 (click here to check latest NFL odds).

Arizona is coming off a 17-14 home victory versus the Kansas City Chiefs last week, which was much-needed considering the team had lost its previous two games on the road. The Cardinals trailed Kansas City 14-6 at halftime but pitched a shutout in the second half while outscoring the Chiefs 11-0 in the third quarter to earn the win despite closing as 2.5-point underdogs.

Speaking of shutouts, St. Louis has blanked its last two opponents by a combined score of 76-0 and will be trying to win its third straight game on Thursday. The Rams beat the Washington Redskins 24-0 last week on the road as 3-point favorites, and they have won the past two meetings with Arizona at the Edward Jones Dome after losing the previous seven in the series there.

In the first meeting between the teams back in Week 10, the Cardinals used a 21-0 fourth quarter to put away St. Louis in a 31-14 victory. In fact, they scored two defensive touchdowns in the last 5:13 to turn a 17-14 lead into the final margin and were able to cover the spread late as 7-point home favorites.

Arizona wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald had nine receptions for 112 yards in the first game against the Rams but proceeded to miss two of the next three games with a knee injury. Fitzgerald returned last week against Kansas City and had four catches for 34 yards. However, the team will be without running back Andre Ellington for the rest of the season due to a hip injury (click here for updated NFL injury report).

Some NFL betting trends worth considering for this prime-time game: The Cardinals have lost 10 of their last 12 divisional road games while the Rams have gone 6-3 against the spread in their past nine at home and 5-1 ATS in their previous six overall, including four straight covers.

Click here for NFL picks from the Don Best handicappers.