7 bold predictions for LA Rams in Week 17 against the Cardinals

(4) - Kyren Williams will outrush James Conner

In Week 2, the LA Rams rushing attack struggled to rush for 53 yards on 20 carries. The Arizona Cardinals rushed for 231 yards on 40 carries. The Rams were led by rookie RB Blake Corum with eight carries for 29 yards. The Cardinals were led by RB James Conner who ran 21 times for 122 yards and a touchdown. The Rams allowed the Cardinals offense to mount a sizeable lead, control the game clock the entire game, and force the Rams into a catch-up offense that played into their pass rush and secondary strategy.

The Rams cannot play catch up in Week 17.

But that creates a bit of an enigma for this week's contest. Invariably, the team has defaulted to a pass-centric offense, placing the football in veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford's hands and expecting him to lead the team to victory. In the past, that has proven to be quite successful.

But how can the team ignore how effective the running game has been of late? RB Kyren Williams has rushed for 1,243 yards and 13 touchdowns in 15 games. In the past five games, he has rushed for 493 yards and five touchdowns. Best of all, with a productive rushing offense, the Rams play-action passing is that much more effective.

The Rams fell behind quickly in Week 2, negating running the football and wiping out much of the team's most effective offensive plays. This offense has been running very well of late.

On the defensive side of the football, the Rams boast undrafted rookie ILB Omar Speights now. Speights has not faced the Cardinals yet, but he has proven to be an NFL-caliber run stuffer. The Cardinals offense relies heavily on RB James Conner. As long as the team can shut down Conner in Week 17, they have a great chance of winning this one.

Bold Prediction: Rams RB Kyren Williams will outperform Cardinals RB James Conner in Week 17, and will rush for at least 85+ yards and 1+ touchdown