The Los Angeles Rams found their stride in the second half to defeat the Arizona Cardinals 26-9. The Rams offense scored 20 points while the defense held Arizona scoreless after halftime.
Rams head coach Sean McVay noted how it was “a big team win” and how the defense kept the Rams competitive throughout the matchup.
“Guys were just making plays, flying around, bend but not break; when we got down a couple of times, we still stood tall,” said Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald. “We were just playing, playing good football.”
Donald played a key role in the Rams high-performing defense with three quarterback hits and tackles for loss. Linebacker Earnest Jones IV led the Rams with 10 combined tackles. The defense defended seven passes, made six tackles for loss and 10 quarterback hits.
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Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford completed 15 passes for 226 yards and one touchdown despite enduring three sacks. Cardinals signal caller Joshua Dobbs made 21 passes for 235 yards while enduring two sacks.
Rams running back Kyren Williams was the driving force of the second-half offense with 158 rushing yards, 28 more yards than the Cardinals total rushing yards. Williams talked about how he foresaw the success he would have because of the time he put into studying film.
“I got a lot more in the tank, I gotta be able to show and display everything I can do,” Williams said. “I go back to the film and watch that and go back to plays where I thought I could do better on and see why.”
Super Bowl LVI MVP Cooper Kupp made seven catches for 148 yards and scored his first touchdown of the season.
The Cards made strong plays on offense, getting to a 9-3 lead late in the second quarter. With 43 seconds left, Stafford connected with Kupp for 49 yards. The play enabled the Rams to score a field goal before halftime.
“There were definitely some mistakes, myself included, in that first drive,” Kupp said. “But I think everyone just stayed even keel and knew that stuff was right there for us.”
Coming out of halftime, Williams advanced the Rams on the ground on four consecutive plays gaining a total 47 yards. Six plays later Stafford connected with Kupp for a 13-yard touchdown pass.
“I love the way guys up front had the opportunity to set their pads, go in there and run the football,” Stafford said. “[Williams] ran it great, all the backs did a nice job, opened up some stuff in the pass game for us.”
Williams made a 31-yard rush on the Rams’ next possession which led the Rams to a field goal. The Rams went into the fourth quarter with a 16-9 lead.
On the first play of the final phase, Rams linebacker Christian Rozeboom picked off Dobbs, ushering the Rams offense back on the field.
“That was a big play and those are the types of things that we want to be able to see,” McVay said.
Plays from Williams, rookie wideout Puka Nacua, and Kupp moved the Rams down the field. From the Arizona five-yard line, Kyren made a rush for the endzone. He was sandwiched between two defenders as he neared the endzone, their tackle knocking over the pylon. It was initially ruled as a fumble.
Upon official review, the fumble call was reversed, awarding Williams the touchdown. Williams acknowledged the efforts of the linemen during the matchup.
“You hyped up but when you see a lineman come running at you smiling, hyped up … it makes it so much better because you know what them boys are doing up front for you,” Williams said. “You know that they’re going, putting their hand in the ground and they’re getting off the ball.”
The Rams next opponent will be the Pittsburg Steelers on October 22 at 1:05P.M.
