LOS ANGELES (AP) — ARIZONA (0-1) at LOS ANGELES RAMS (1-0)

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Sunday Orlando Pace Jersey Black Friday , 4:05 p.m. ET, FoxOPENING LINE — Rams by 8 1/2RECORD VS. SPREAD — Arizona 0-1-0, Los Angeles 1-0-0SERIES RECORD — Rams lead 39-38-2LAST MEETING — Rams beat Cardinals 32-16, Dec. 3, 2017LAST WEEK — Cardinals lost to Redskins 24-6; Rams beat Raiders 33-13AP PRO32 RANKING — Cardinals No. 31, Rams No. 4CARDINALS OFFENSE — OVERALL (31), RUSH (29), PASS (29).CARDINALS DEFENSE — OVERALL (27), RUSH (32), PASS (20).RAMS OFFENSE — OVERALL (12), RUSH (8), PASS (18).RAMS DEFENSE — OVERALL (26), RUSH (11), PASS (24).STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES – Rams’ home opener is also first road game for new Cardinals coach Steve Wilks. Rams are 4-11 at Coliseum since return home to Los Angeles in 2016. … Cardinals QB Sam Bradford has first chance to face Rams, who drafted him No. 1 overall in 2010. Spent five seasons in St. Louis, getting traded 10 months before Rams relocated to LA. … Rams G Rodger Saffold was in Bradford’s draft class. He is now longest-tenured Ram. … Rams DL Michael Brockers and Cardinals CB Patrick Peterson were teammates at LSU. … Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald has 176 career receptions against Rams for 2,017 yards https://www.ramsfanstore.com/Ethan-Westbrooks-Jersey , 18 touchdowns. That’s most receptions by any Rams opponent and more catches than anyone has against single opponent in NFL history. … Cardinals DE Chandler Jones has 5 1/2 sacks in five career games against Rams, and 4 1/2 in four games since coming to Arizona in 2016. … Cardinals QB Josh Rosen returns to LA as backup to Bradford. Rosen grew up in Manhattan Beach, spent three seasons as UCLA’s starter before going No. 10 overall in April draft. Rosen lost twice at Coliseum with Bruins. … In just fourth NFL season, Rams RB Todd Gurley needs 90 yards rushing to pass Dan Towler for sixth place in franchise history. … Los Angeles swept season series last year, getting 10 combined sacks in comfortable victories in London and Glendale. … Rams DL Aaron Donald needs two tackles for loss to become franchise’s career leader. … Rams will be without All-Pro kick returner Pharoh Cooper, who is on IR after badly spraining ankle last week. JoJo Natson likely to return kicks; he rejoined team Wednesday after getting waived in final roster cutdowns. … Fantasy tip: Rams’ defense could be good choice given Arizona’s offensive woes vs. Washington. It’s the one of the most important aspects of offenses. Yet when the Los Angeles Rams have one of the top offenses (No. 2) in the league, the ability to score in the red zone can get overlooked. More specifically the ability to score touchdowns in the red zone, which is the main objective for offenses. The Rams offense scores a touchdown on 56 percentof their red zone trips, which is 16th-best in the league, according to FootballOutsiders. It doesn’t seem like that big of an issue. Sure, it’s not a great stat. But it’s certainly not a big problem. The Rams score plenty. They’re 8-1. So, who cares? Former New England Patriot Rob Ninkovich was asked during training camp what the most important practice periods Bill Belichick was going to run. His answer: the red zone. The Patriots are currently No. 10 in the league in red zone touchdown scores. “If the Patriots have four possessions and the other team has four possessions and the Patriots are four-for-four in the red zone and the other team is kicking field goals, it’s already out of reach,” Ninkovich said, according to NBC Sports Boston. “The game is over, you know? I think that there’s going to be a big emphasis on the red zone, like there always is.”For the Rams, four of the last six games were decided by seven points or less. Sure Deacon Jones Color Rush Jersey , a win is a win. But the offense is leaving valuable points on the table. Broncos-Rams Week 6. Rams won by three.Red-zone touchdown scores: 2-of-5On third-and-six, Denver goes with a nickel package. The defensive backs are playing everything underneath and the Broncos expect the pass. Rams go empty backfield and shift Gurley to WR. LA sends everyone but Robert Woods into the end-zone with no slant routes in the flat. Goff forces a pass and is off-target.On third and goal, the Rams need six for the score. The play falls apart almost immediately after the snap. John Sullivan collapses and can’t get to the second level and Robert Havenstein lets up on his block. Von Miller roams back inside and hits Gurley. There was little, if any, chance of the score here. Unlike Brian Schottenheimer, the Sean McVay is rather successful with his shotgun play-calls near the goal line. But it’s not always a given. Sometimes the Rams go with shotgun when the previous plays saw them record as many or more yards than they need on the current drive. Seahawks-Rams Week 5. Rams won by two.Red-zone: 4-of-6The Seahawks have most of the flat covered, but Brandin Cooks gets separation, which Goff doesn’t seem to notice. He chooses Gurley, who is shadowed. The ball is deflected and picked off. This is second-and-goal from the 2-yard line. The play before, Gurley rushed for three yards in a single back formation. The Rams go single-back on the following drive and score from the 2-yard line. Go figure. The last two weeks have arguably been the toughest on the Rams. The loss against the Saints magnified the problems we already knew existed on the defense. The second half saw the Rams nearly pull off a big comeback. They were three-of-five from the red zone during that game. The Green Bay game was a great example of how important the red zone is because of how rare they were in the first half. The Rams couldn’t get into the red zone during the first five drives of the game. It wasn’t until the very end of the first half that they came inside the 20-yard line. Josh Reynolds runs a slant and cuts back outside, which gives him the separation he needs for the catch. This was the first red zone trip and the Rams scored a touchdown when they needed it most. Without this touchdown, who knows how the Green Bay game would have played out. The Rams offense is great. It’s a unit that’s put up at least 30 points in seven of its last nine games. But LA is not always going to be able to rely on it’s defense to hold the line. With teams like Seattle (touchdowns scored on 72 percent of red zone trips), Kansas City (touchdowns scored on 70 percent of red zone trips), and possibly New Orleans again in the playoffs (touchdowns scored on 71 percent of red zone trips), it’s imperative that LA execute in the red zone.