The Baltimore Ravens and Arizona Cardinals will face off in a battle of the birds on Monday night. This should be an interesting matchup, considering these two teams don't even play in the same conference.

Let's preview the game and pick a winner.

Arizona Cardinals (4-2)

The Cardinals are the only team with a winning record in the NFC West at the moment. They lost against the Pittsburgh Steelers last week to drop to 4-2, and the Seattle Seahawks are still lurking in the division. That was a pretty disappointing loss, considering Ben Roethlisberger wasn't even on the field, but what's done is done.

Carson Palmer is in fine form, producing a great season so far with 14 touchdowns and just five interceptions. Meanwhile, veteran wide out Larry Fitzgerald has found the fountain of youth this year, as he leads the team in catches, yards and touchdown grabs. Chris Johnson has proven to be a great signing by the Cardinals as well.

The Cardinals don't have a glaring weakness in any major department, as they rank in the top 10 in scoring offense and defense, and they are a relatively healthy football team at the moment. The Cardinals have to win this game to avoid a losing streak. The biggest key to victory for the Cardinals will be getting pressure on Joe Flacco.

The Cardinals take on the Cleveland Browns next week.

Baltimore Ravens (1-5)

What happened to the vaunted Ravens defense? The days of Ray Lewis and Ed Reed dominating opposing offenses are in the past, and they show no signs of returning. The Ravens are hurting with injuries, they only have one win this year, and they play in a very tough AFC North division. The only victory for the Ravens this season was an overtime win against the Steelers.

The Ravens defense now ranks 25th in yards allowed, 26th in points allowed, and 29th against the pass. There's no doubt about it: Losing Terrell Suggs has killed this team's chances at making the postseason.

Flacco is playing adequately so far, and he usually plays his best on prime-time television. Steve Smith, Sr. has been battling back injuries, but it appears as if he is going to play on Monday night. Smith has been fantastic this season with 510 receiving yards. He has been involved in some trade rumors, but nothing has been confirmed yet. The Ravens certainly won't be favored to win this game, but they still have talent and great coaching.

The Ravens face the San Diego Chargers next week.

Schedule

The Ravens and Cardinals will play each other on Monday at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. The game will be played at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. You can watch a live game stream here.

Prediction

The Cardinals are coming off a loss, but the Ravens just aren't very good this season. The Cardinals should get the home win and improve to 5-2 after Monday. It would be a devastating loss to fall to the Ravens given their status. Expect Fitzgerald to have a good game.

Cardinals win 27-20

 Follow Damon Salvadore on Twitter @DamonSalvadore1