Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians is clearly not a fan of the St. Louis Rams and even goes as far as to call their NFC West rival “that team we don’t like.”
But exactly how much does he dislike his divisional foe?
“I’ll have dinner with ’em, but I ain’t liking ’em,” Arians said Wednesday, per Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I ain’t drinking with ’em.”
Though, Arians did show praise for the Rams head coach Jeff Fisher and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.
“I respect the heck out of them. It’s been a great game every time we’ve played since we got here. It’s a big division game.”
Since 1996, the Cardinals have a 17-12 edge in the NFC West rivalry, and since Arians became the coach of the Cardinals, his team has beat Jeff Fisher’s in three of five contests.
Looking back on Arians’ surly personality, the coach took a jab at the Rams in last December’s Thursday Night Football matchup when he remarked:
“Everybody wanted to say how great their defense is, but I think they saw a good defense tonight, and it was in red and white. “I love it when nobody says that you will have a chance to win. There is an 11-3 team, and a team that is always 8-8. You figure it out.”
Obviously Arians throwing out the mediocre 8-8 term was slam at the Rams.
This Sunday will bring the two teams face-to-face for second time when the 9-2 Cardinals will be looking to avenge their earlier loss to the 4-7 Rams and further build a lead in the NFC West.