Arizona @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 25, 2012 ) St. Louis 31, Arizona 17

The St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals are trying to make inroads in the rugged NFC West, where division rivals San Francisco and Seattle are among the trendy choices to reach the Super Bowl. That places added emphasis on Sunday's season-opening matchup between host St. Louis and Arizona, with neither team in position to afford many missteps. Longtime Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher is back for his second season with the Rams while Bruce Arians takes the reins for the Cardinals.

Arians became a hot commidity after taking over for Chuck Pagano on an interim basis and leading Indianapolis to a stunning playoff berth. He will be charged with reviving a team that produced an NFC-low 250 points and lost 11 of its final 12 games after bolting out to a 4-0 start last season. St. Louis, surprisingly, had the best record within its division and looks to continue its ascent behind a youthful squad that features electrifying rookie receiver Tavon Austin.

TV: 4:25 p.m. ET, Fox. LINE: Rams -4.5. O/U 41.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS (2012: 5-11, fourth NFC West): Arians brought in veteran Carson Palmer to rectify last season's wretched quarterback play, which led to a league-low 263.1 total yards per game. Palmer threw for 4,018 yards with Oakland in 2012 and has an elite target in Larry Fitzgerald, who was limited to a career-low 71 catches last season. Rashard Mendenhall is nearly two years removed from major knee surgery and looks to boost a running game that also ranked last (75.3 yards) a year ago. Cornerback Patrick Peterson had seven interceptions last season and is a huge weapon in the return game.

ABOUT THE RAMS (2012: 7-8-1, third NFC West): Sam Bradford set career highs with 3,702 yards and 21 touchdown passes, numbers he hopes to boost with the addition of No. 8 overall pick Austin and speedy second-year wideout Chris Givens. Daryl Richardson gets first crack at replacing free-agent departure Steven Jackson in the backfield and will run behind a beefed-up line that added former No. 1 overall pick Jake Long. Defensive end Chris Long, who was drafted one spot behind Jake Long in 2008, has 24.5 sacks in the past two season and helped St. Louis tie Denver for the league high with 52 sacks.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Arizona has won 10 of 13 from the Rams, but was swept in last season's two matchups.

2. Peterson has two punt returns for TDs against St. Louis.

3. Givens became the first rookie in league history with a catch of at least 50 yards in five straight games.

PREDICTION: Rams 24, Cardinals 23