Cardinals vs. Rams Final Score Prediction for NFL Week 18 (Fade the Struggling Rams)

Iain MacMillan | 1 Hour Ago

Bet on the Cardinals to cover the spread against the Rams in Week 18. / Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Many people believe the Los Angeles Rams are the most complete team in the NFL, but they've suffered some baffling losses in the final stretch of the season, going 2-3 in their most recent five games, including losses to the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons.

They have one more chance to make things right in Week 18 when they host the Arizona Cardinals. Sean McVay has been known to rest his starters when the Rams already have a postseason berth locked up, but he has stated he plans on playing them on Sunday.

Let's take a look at how that affects the odds and then I'll predict the game's final score.

Cardinals vs. Rams Odds, Spread, and Total

Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook

Spread

• Cardinals +7.5 (-115)
• Rams -7.5 (-105)

Moneyline

• Cardinals +280
• Rams -350

Total

• OVER 45.5 (-115)
• UNDER 45.5 (-105)

The spread for this game has remained steady throughout the week, but the total has dropped three points from 48.5 to 45.5.

Cardinals vs. Rams Final Score Prediction

In this week's edition of the Road to 272 Bets, I wrote about why I'm betting on the Cardinals to cover as significant underdogs:

If the 49ers beat the Seahawks on Saturday, the Rams will be locked into the No. 6 seed, no matter what happens on Sunday. That alone makes the Cardinals the side to back if you're going to bet on this game before the weekend. The line will drop if the likes of Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua see limited, if any, action in Week 18.

The Cardinals have been terrible this season, but they still have enough talent to cover a 9.5-point spread if the Rams play their backups. The Cardinals rank 24th in net yards per play this season at -0.5.

When it comes to the total, I'm going to take the UNDER. There are situations where McVay rests both Stafford and Nacua for at least a portion of this game, and if that happens, the offensive production in this game is going to come to a screeching halt.

Final score prediction: Rams 24, Cardinals 20

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