👋 GOOD MORNING – Happy Friday. We’ve gotten to the end of the week, which means it’s time to talk about the Arizona Cardinals, for better or worse.

And it’s going to be a tough one this week. The Los Angeles Rams might be the best team in the NFL right now. Annoyingly so.

This one could get ugly, but we’ll break it down either way.

Here we go!

— Alex D’Agostino, PHNX Sports Daily Editor

Cardinals Prepare for Heavyweight Opponent

The Arizona Cardinals are facing their toughest matchup of the entire season this weekend, on the heels of yet another loss — the 9-3 the Los Angeles Rams. LA, meanwhile is coming off an upset loss to the scrappy Carolina Panthers.

That could be recipe for disaster if Sean McVay’s team comes into Arizona ticked off and ready to take it out on their divisional opponents.

But it’s almost as if that doesn’t matter. It hardly even matters what team the Cardinals are playing. They just seem to find a way to lose every game they play this season, no matter how close they come to sneaking away with a victory.

“We’ve figured out how to compete, we’ve got to figure out how to win,” head coach Jonathan Gannon said earlier this week after Arizona’s latest heartbreaking, one-score loss.

But at this point, there just isn’t much hope for this team — this season, at least.

It’s football, so obviously any Sunday could come with any number of surprise outcomes, but the Cardinals have felt like an inevitable disappointment, week in and week out.

No matter how close they play a quality (or non-quality) opponent, the outcome has been generally the same — a late, one-score loss, with an occasional blowout sprinkled in.

But those blowouts have come against two divisional opponents, and McVay’s Rams are the toughest possible NFC West foe. Arizona has not beaten a division rival yet this season, and it seems like it would require quite the effort to change that on Sunday.

How do Cardinals, Rams Match Up?

The Rams have been elite on both sides of the ball. While Los Angeles has been just above middle-of-the-road when it comes to yardage surrendered defensively, they rank second in the NFL in points allowed per game (17.5) with just 22 touchdowns allowed.

They’ve been sturdy inside the red zone and rank ninth in the league in sacks (33). Good luck punching one in on them.

The Cardinals’ offense has been productive in terms of yardage, but it seems as if every productive drive ends in some sort of disappointment — a stall-out or turnover.

Which means the X-factor of Sunday’s matchup isn’t one player, but…

• The Red Zone

The Cardinals rank 17th in the league in red zone TD percentage (57.45%). The Rams rank fourth at 66.04%. The Rams have stopped teams in goal-to-go situations at a high rate, allowing opponents to punch it in just over 41% of the time. The Cardinals rank 19th in that endeavor (58.7%).

For Los Angeles, that’s been the Davante Adams show. Adams has 117 career touchdowns (four shy of Larry Fitzgerald’s 121 in just over five fewer seasons). He has 14 this season despite only recording 689 receiving yards.

Arizona is going to have to find a way to contain the veteran, who’s still playing at a high level. Adams has been limited in practice this week, but should play Sunday. The Cardinals will also have to find a way to score points when given the opportunity. Easier said than done against LA’s defense.

But that might be tough considering the (injury) state of this roster…

Cardinals Injury Updates

Those who have not practiced yet this week:

Marvin Harrison Jr. (heel), Max Melton (heel), Walter Nolen III (knee), Greg Dortch (chest), Rabbit Taylor-Demerson (ankle).

RB Trey Benson, who is still on IR, was also not seen. He’s coming dangerously close to missing his window to come off IR, missing the last four practices, even though he showed up in a limited capacity immediately following his practice window’s opening.

OLB Josh Sweat has not practiced the past two days, but for rest purposes, not an injury. The veteran has tied his career-high in sacks this season with five games to play.

Quick Hits

Best of the Big 12: The Wildcats saw a trio of football stars hit the Big 12 All-Conference first-team roster. DBs Treydan Stukes and Dalton Johnson made the defensive list, while Noah Fifita got the nod at QB. Fifita has thrown for 2,963 yards, 29 touchdowns and six interceptions, with 149 yards and three scores on the ground.

No. 2-ranked Arizona men’s basketball takes on No. 20 Auburn tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. in McKale, while the women’s team lost their first game of the season in a rough 63-57 defeat by Southern University on Wednesday.

Devilish Seasons: ASU, similar to Arizona, saw three football stars man the All-Big 12 first-team roster. DB Keith Abney II manned the defensive side, while star WR Jordyn Tyson and RB Raleek Brown got the nods on offense. There are some talented college players in this state.

ASU Men’s basketball plays Oklahoma in Tempe at 8:00 p.m. tomorrow, while the women’s team takes on McNeese tonight at 6:30 as they look to continue their undefeated season.

Book-less: The Suns will take on the Rockets tonight at 6:00 p.m. in Houston. The elusive Kevin Durant-Devin Booker rematch remains theoretical, as KD missed the last meeting of the two teams, and Booker is out at least one week with a groin strain.

Tip of the Hat by Branded Bills

Sigh…