The Los Angeles Rams have dominated the Cardinals since the arrival of Sean McVay in 2017, but many have expressed a belief that 2025 is going to be Arizona’s best campaign in a long time. Should the Rams be prepared for a tougher fight against the Cardinals next season, both head-to-head and in the race to win the NFC West?

ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss predicted a 5-1 start to the season for Arizona.

Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton predicted a 10-7 final record, one game behind the Rams in his 2025 standings prediction.

The Cardinals have a 43% chance to make the playoffs, according to Vegas Odds, something that Arizona has only done once since 2016. The Cardinals haven’t won a playoff game since 2015, which is also the last time that Arizona won the NFC West.

But with many fans skeptical of the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks, there’s a chance that the NFC West crown does come down to the Rams and Cardinals.

Rams dominating Cardinals

Prior to Sean McVay’s arrival in 2017, the Rams had lost five of their last seven games against the Cardinals.

As soon as McVay started his L.A. career, the Rams won eight straight games versus Arizona.

The Rams are 14-3 against the Cardinals under McVay, including a playoff win

However, the Cardinals were more like “No, we’re not doing that anymore” in 2024, beating the Rams 41-10 in Week 2 and losing a 13-9 nailbiter in Week 17.

It seems like head coach Jonnathan Gannon was starting to get his footing against L.A. last season.

Cardinals 2024: 8-9

It may not seem like much, but eight wins in 2024 was as many as the Cardinals had combined in 2022 (4-13) and 2023 (4-13). Not only that, but Arizona was +21 in point differential (-234 over the previous two seasons combined) and they were 6-4 after 10 games.

Following their Week 11 bye, the Cardinals lost the next three games, including 2 to the Seahawks and a one-point loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

The Cardinals were 8-9, but merely a couple of points away from winning two more games late in the year that would have made then 10-7.

This is also a team that:

Only lost to the Bills by 6
Only lost to the Lions by 7
Narrowly lost to the Vikings, Rams
Beat the 49ers 47-24 in the season finale

The Cardinals put up over 40 points against two different NFC West opponents last season and offense is supposed to be their weakness under Gannon.

In reality, Arizona’s offense was well ahead of their defense last season, ranking 9th in points per drive but 21st in points per drive allowed.

With so much of their offseason focused on fixing the defense, could the Cardinals be a force on both sides of the ball?

Cardinals 2025 changes

Offensively, the Cardinals are relying on in-house development of players who were starting for them last season:

Kyler Murray is back at QB
James Conner and Trey Benson are back at RB
Marvin Harrison, Zay Jones, Michael Wilson are back at WR
Trey McBride is back at TE
The starting offensive line returns too

Other than returning a couple of offensive line starters to being healthy (Jonah Williams), the Cardinals are basically the exact same offense as 2024. They only made one draft pick on that side of the ball, sixth round offensive lineman Hayden Conner.

Defensively, the Cardinals will be a lot different and hope to be much better.

The Cardinals have signed defensive line veterans Calais Campbell and Dalvin Tomlinson, edge rusher Josh Sweat, and linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither.

Arizona used their first round pick on defensive tackle Walter Nolen, a former number one overall recruit in the nation, and their second round pick on cornerback Will Johnson, a player who many ranked top-10 in the entire class if not for a knee injury

The Cardinals might have at most 4 returning starters on defense, which would include All-Pro safety Budda Baker.

If the Cardinals had a top-10 defense and a top-10 offense, that’s a playoff team and a threat to win the NFC West.

Rams-Cardinals 2025 meetings

The Rams play the Cardinals twice in the last five weeks, setting up two potential high-stakes games if both teams are as good as they hope to be.

How many games do you expect the Arizona Cardinals to win in 2025?

0-7
8 or 9
10 or 11
12 or more

Share your thoughts in the comments on whether or not the Rams need to be worried about the Arizona Cardinals or if McVay continues his dominance against them?