Denver also gets a schedule break. The Broncos played on Thursday night, so they get 10 days before kickoff at 1:05 PM MT. Arizona went the full Sunday distance at the Rams and gets the normal week. The board has Denver laying points on the road, and that tells you how little anybody thinks of what Arizona did in September.
Arizona's 4-game skid wasn't close. The Cardinals gave up 31, 36, 36 and 45 in that stretch, and the Lions put up 45 at State Farm Stadium. Then came the 18-16 win at the Rams. The Cardinals were dominated on the scoreboard by field goals, Matthew Stafford hit Colby Parkinson for a touchdown with under a minute left to go ahead, and Chad Ryland answered with a 43-yarder at the end for his 5th field goal of the day. That's a real road win over a division opponent. It also shows an offense that keeps stalling out once it gets close.
The Cardinals' injury report is long, and almost all of it is in the defensive backfield. Andrew Wingard, Jerrick Reed II and Wydett Williams Jr. were all inactive at safety in Los Angeles, Starling Thomas V sat at corner, and Andrew Billings was out on the interior. On offense, Jeremiyah Love was inactive with an ankle injury and James Conner is still on IR, so Tyler Allgeier carried the lead-back role. On paper that should be a good matchup for Nix and Denver's receivers, Courtland Sutton, Jaylen Waddle and Evan Engram. The catch is that Nix hasn't shown he can take advantage of a matchup like that lately. If he can't do it against this secondary, Denver goes back to its defense and its kicker, and Arizona stays in it into the 4th quarter.