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The Cardinals and Rams Super Bowl odds for 2015 were set at 60/1 odds apiece. Odds were expected to be much longer on the Rams with Sam Bradford out for the season however. Both teams were expected to be good in 2014-2015 but good may not cut it in a division that includes the likes of reigning Super Bowl champs Seattle and the 2012 Super Bowl losers San Francisco.
In any other division Arizona would likely have much shorter odds of winning the 2015 Super Bowl. This is a team, after all, that managed to go 6-2 the second half of last season.
Arizona will be at a disadvantage this season due to the loss of Daryl Washington, who is undergoing a one-year suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. The Cardinals already have the 8th toughest schedule in the league and Washington’s absence won’t help matters. Oddsmakers have the Cards winning 8 regular season games in 2014.
The St. Louis Rams were expected to play much better than they have in recent seasons provided starting quarterback Sam Bradford stayed healthy. That didn't happen, however, as Bradford went down with a season ending torn ACL just two weeks prior to the start of the regular season.
Additions such as Greg Robinson, the No. 2 pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, will certainly add some spice to the offense but it remains to be seen how Bradford's replacement Shaun Hill fits into the whole scheme of things.
But it is the defense that should carry St. Louis in 2014 regardless of the starting quarterback situation.
WaltersFootball.com writes of the Rams:
Once the Rams established Zac Stay last season, they were dominant down the stretch despite having Kellen Clemens at quarterback. They'll definitely carry that over into 2014, but the Seahawks and 49ers will be standing in their way. A wild-card berth is very realistic, though that would require Sam Bradford to stay healthy, which is something he has failed to do in two of the past three seasons.
The Rams do have the third toughest schedule on paper. Any injury to Hill will essentially kill any chances these Rams have of competing for a Playoffs spot.
- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com
