The Arizona Cardinals will have a newer look than even they probably anticipated heading into their regular-season opener on Sunday when they visit the young St. Louis Rams.  The Cardinals are 3.5-point road favorites on the current NFL point spread and tabbed free-agent acquisition Derek Anderson as their starting quarterback over Matt Leinart while the Rams will go with rookie Sam Bradford.

Anderson won the QB battle over Leinart in training camp after coming over from Cleveland in the offseason and worked hard on his fundamentals with the Cardinals to win the job.  Leinart was expected to take over for Kurt Warner but failed in his efforts despite being the team’s top pick in the 2006 draft.  Arizona wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald is expected to play after he was nursing a knee injury, and he totaled 13 catches for 135 yards and two touchdowns against the Rams in two games last year.  Fitzgerald did not play in the team’s last three preseason games.

Cardinals second-year running back Beanie Wells may miss the game though with a sore knee, meaning Tim Hightower will be expected to carry the rushing load.  The absence of Wells and former wide receiver Anquan Boldin will put even more pressure on Fitzgerald and Hightower to produce and help Anderson in his first game.  Arizona is also without key defensive starters from last season, as linebacker Karlos Dansby and safety Antrel Rolle left via free agency.

St. Louis is hoping Bradford can help jump-start an offense that averaged an NFL-low 10.9 points per game last season.  The Rams ranked 28^th in passing offense with 167.9 yards per game and will look to exploit the Cardinals secondary without Rolle back in coverage.  Bradford finished strong in the preseason, completing 21-of-28 passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions in two starts, including a win at New England.  Veteran A.J. Feeley was expected to challenge Bradford for the starting job but he injured his thumb in the preseason.

Bradford will have a new receiver to throw to in Mark Clayton, who was acquired from Baltimore on Monday.  Clayton replaces last year’s leading receiver Donnie Avery, who suffered a torn ligament in his right knee during the preseason.  St. Louis leading rusher Steven Jackson is also coming back from offseason back surgery and should be a factor in the passing game as well.

The Rams have dropped seven straight games to the Cardinals and have covered the spread only twice during that stretch.  The total has gone UNDER in the last four meetings following three straight OVERs in the series between the two NFC West opponents.

This game looks like a toss up to us and we have no opinion on it, we do have 5 strong NFL picks for Sunday though.  Get these winners and signup for the best NFL picks on the Internet today.