NFL Thursday Night week 15: STL Rams vs AZ Cardinals matchup analysis

2 very tough defense will go face to face in the week 15 thursday night, the Rams one is coming from 2 straight shutout aganst the Raiders and the Redskins will face a short handed offense that will play without both starting QB and RB but they can rely on a very good WR core made by Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd and the surprising John Brown who is having a very good season play alot of slot spot. The second one the Cards' one will have a good advantage on the matchup being the 3rd overall against the runs because the Rams offense since they lost their starting QB became a run 'n gun kind of offense and the Rams should be on trouble if they will not be able to estabilish their running game especially on their 1st and 2nd down, this should mean Hill would be forced to play shotgun in obvious passing situation something that he is not confortable to do and also he wouldn't able to be effective on play action ( 1 of his biggest weapon ). When Hill will pass the ball he will have issues to target Britt and Bailey outside because they will be covered by Peterson and Cromartie so he could target Austin in slot or TE Cook that without MLB Washington (suspended) to cover him should have a big game. On offense the Cards need to provide a good protection to Stanton keeping away from him the dangerous passrushers RE Robert Quinn and LE Chris Long ( if he will able to play ) to let him have the time to pass the ball down field something that he has done with great success this year. The Rams defense is a very balanced one so the Cards will need also the contribution of backup RB Septfan Taylor to attack especially the inside of the Rams defense to keep Laurinaitis and Lagford committed to the running game and also to prevent Nickle or Dime scheme, counting the Greg Williams' tendecy to blitz in lot of situations draw plays and screens would be an huge weapon for the offense lead by Stanton who will have to keep the calm during blitz situation because even if the pressure is efficient the coverage (improved in last weeks) is not great and he could find open targets due to the inexperience of the Rams young CBs.
My prediction for the final result is: Rams 17 Cardinals 20 with Fitzgerald as the MVP andd Cook as the X factor of the game who could change the final result of the game. I think this will be a low scoring game with a slight edge in favor of the Cardinals and the defenses will dictate the rhythm of the game along with the special teams because in a game with the hot defenses factors like field position and turnovers will be even more important than in the other games.