media on the ARIZONA home game

The Rams were humbled at home by the Cardinals, who remain undefeated and atop the NFC West. https://t.co/Vme26QEO9J

— Rams Wire (@TheRamsWire) October 3, 2021

The Rams shot themselves in the foot, Sean McVay wasn't aggressive enough and the defense has clearly regressed from last year.

That and more in my 6 quick takeaways https://t.co/rlFEBPz8pR

— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) October 3, 2021

Derek A@Son_DeeRRF
I really thought today would be his day. Stafford has got to learn to spread the ball around more.

Lindsey Thiry@LindseyThiry
Woods has done more than enough to earn more than two garbage time TDs this season.

Sam Farmer@LATimesfarmer
Robert Woods made that touchdown catch then tossed the ball aside like a crumpled Dixie cup. Clear disgust.

…

from https://theramswire.usatoday.com/lists/rams-cardinals-studs-duds-best-worst-players/?taid=615a5f6aa6777700018ff2e8&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=twitter

Long was exposed quite a bit against the Cardinals. A.J. Green gave him a ton of trouble, catching five passes for 67 yards and a touchdown, which came on a 41-yard bomb where Long was also called for defensive holding. Hopefully this was an outlier of a performance from the young cornerback, but Kyler Murray picked on Long and had success doing it.

Stafford’s numbers don’t look all that bad (280 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT), but he padded his stats in garbage time when the game was out of reach. If you watched the game, you’d know he wasn’t sharp whatsoever and missed a handful of throws that he typically makes. His receivers weren’t much help – Cooper Kupp dropped a pass and Tyler Higbee couldn’t come down with a low touchdown grab in the fourth quarter – but Stafford needs to play better than he did against Arizona. He was fortunate to not have a second interception, which was negated by a penalty.

Matthew Stafford has a comeback count: Takeaways from Rams’ loss to Cardinals

GARY KLEIN

https://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/story/2021-10-04/matthew-stafford-rams-takeaways-loss-arizona-cardinals-nfl

The Rams’ record dropped to 3-1 overall and 0-1 in the NFC West with a 37-20 defeat by the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.

Here’s what we learned from the Rams’ loss:

Matthew Stafford can lead comebacks … but not every time

As the Rams fell behind, there was seemingly no reason to panic.

Stafford showed throughout 12 seasons in Detroit, and most recently in the Rams’ victory at Indianapolis, that he has a well-deserved knack for engineering comeback victories.

Not this time.

Stafford did not make game-turning plays in crucial situations. And the Rams’ defense saw the Cardinals pull away.

Stafford no doubt inspires confidence from teammates and coach Sean McVay. They just can’t expect him to bail them out on every occasion.

Kyler Murray — and the Cardinals — are legit

It’s only four games. Still plenty of time for the Cardinals to fall out of contention.

But Sunday’s victory over the Rams felt different.

Murray, the top pick in the 2019 NFL draft, clearly has matured as a decision-maker. The Cardinals’ rushing attack was effective. The defense is making plays.

Now the Cardinals play a San Francisco 49ers team that is coming off a loss to the Seattle Seahawks and will be without oft-injured quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. If coach Kliff Kingsbury can inspire his team to avoid a post-Rams letdown, the Cardinals will be in a good spot.

Running back Darrell Henderson appears fully recovered

After sitting out against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers because of a rib injury, Henderson returned to the starting lineup and played well against the Cardinals.

He rushed for 89 yards in 14 carries. He caught five passes for 27 yards.

Henderson appeared on his way to even more rushing production against a Cardinals defense that had been giving up 140.7 yards rushing per game, which ranked 29th in the NFL. But coach Sean McVay went away from the running game.

Sony Michel played as Henderson’s back-up, but he lost a fumble.

Defense has a potential issue at cornerback

Jalen Ramsey is playing like an All-Pro. No opponent seems to be testing Darious Williams.

But the Cardinals appeared to target and take advantage of David Long.

Long, a third-round draft pick in 2019, showed growth in the season-opening victory over the Chicago Bears when he intercepted a tipped pass in the end zone.

The Cardinals, however, might have presented a blueprint for how to exploit the Rams.

Kicker Matt Gay is not infallible

Gay went into the game having made all six of his field-goal attempts.

He remained perfect by converting attempts from 42 yards in the first quarter and 22 yards in the second against the Cardinals.

But with the Rams trailing 27-13 in the third quarter, Gay missed wide right on a 46-yard attempt. The Cardinals took over and drove for a touchdown that increased the lead to 21 points.