Cardinals look to take advantage of primetime playoff opportunity vs. Rams

Playing on Monday night, all eyes will be on the Arizona Cardinals and the Los Angeles Rams as the division foes put a bow on Wild Card Weekend in the NFL.

The sixth and final game of the first round of the NFL playoffs, the Cardinals and Rams get primetime treatment.

Preparing for the Rams for the third time this season, Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury said the week of practice has ramped up.

“Definitely a different sense of urgency, there’s no tomorrow if you don’t get it done,” the Cardinals head coach said. “Knowing it’s a division opponent, there’s been a lot of juice at practice.

Ahead of Monday night’s showdown, those in the Cardinals locker room know what’s at stake and are relishing at the opportunity.

“This is a big opportunity, I’m not going to sit around and act like this is a regular game because it’s a big game,” said Arizona linebacker Markus Golden after Saturday’s practice. 

The veteran defender said he’s been telling his teammates that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, but not to overthink the situation.

“You got to embrace that you get to play in an NFL playoff game on a Monday night, that’s a blessing,” Golden said. “This is one of them games that you live for as a football player.”

As for others on the Cardinals, it continues to remain about the 53 guys in the room. Offensive tackle Kelvin Beachum is confident that if Arizona plays their game, they can move on to the Divisional round.

“It’s about us,” Beachum said. “If we take care of what we need to take care of, if we execute the way we need to execute, it really doesn’t matter who is in front of us.”

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