The Arizona Cardinals head into their final matchup of the 2025 season on the road against the Los Angeles Rams, a team that is fighting for its right to play whoever the mediocre NFC South division winner is.
The Cardinals are coming off a blowout loss on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals, where Joe Burrow carved up the young Arizona secondary, completing 24-of-31 attempts for 305 yards with a pair of touchdown passes.
Matthew Stafford and the Rams, on the other hand, are also coming off a bad loss by their standards. The team lost to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football, in which they were down 21–0 at halftime. Recent history shows that this won’t pan out for the Cardinals, as the team was blown out 45–17 at home last time the Rams came off a loss.
It will be tough sledding for head coach Jonathan Gannon and company, who, in particular, is trying to save his job for next season.
On the bright side for Arizona, the team saw one player shine against Cincinnati that just might make an impact in Los Angeles.
The Cardinals drafted linebacker Cody Simon out of Ohio State in the fourth round, hoping he’d serve as a solid depth piece in the linebacker room. However, with the injury to Mack Wilson Sr., the captain of the defense, Simon was tasked with filling in his shoes.
Simon, 23, has started every game since Week 10 and racked up a total of 59 tackles. His best performance of the season came last Sunday, when he looked like one of the best off-ball linebackers in the league, recording 15 total tackles (4 solo, 11 assisted).
The type of flashes that were not only on display last weekend, but the entire season, may earn him a permanent starting spot in the near future.
It will be exciting to see how he fares against a hefty L.A. offense on Sunday.