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znModeratorKyle Odegard@Kyle_Odegard
Aaron Donald had a @PFF pass-rushing grade of 51.5 against the Cardinals, the lowest of his career.Rams Brothers@RamsBrothers
Kliff Kingsbury is now the third-favorite to win Coach of the Year, behind Brandon Staley and Sean McVay.This helps his case in a big way.
HoldenCantor@HoldenCantor
Cardinals scored on every possession yesterday and the Rams now rank 21 in total defenseznModeratorMatthew Stafford has a comeback count: Takeaways from Rams’ loss to Cardinals
GARY KLEIN
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.
znModeratorRamdy@RandyMcMillon1
I’m through for the day just one question are the Rams contenders or pretendersAxel Kopun@FV_Mylia_Lynn
Too early to tell. Only 4 games in. Offense has been explosive (before today) but not necessarily in rythm. D has been giving up a lot of yards but not too many points (before today). If the offense doesn’t get more players involved & the D doesn’t improve drastically? PretendersJourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
Just a heckofalot of “not good” all around. Wow.Jalen Ramsey said he respectfully didn’t want to get too into the details about anything or anybody before watching film but did note the explosive passing and run plays that they had prided themselves on containing continuing to be an issue.
Stafford going through a couple throws he wants back including the INT and a third down miss to Kupp. Indicated it was a bit about the feel for the receivers and getting adjusted to how they come out of breaks/stumbles and how they leverage against DBs (including the former)
“I can go out there and play better. When the QB plays well, the team has an opportunity to win games.”
Kenny Young says postgame, “we’re not going to let (this loss) define us.” Says they were out-executed.
Sean McVay said that he felt the team had installed a good defensive plan for the Cardinals ahead of the matchup.
Sean McVay says he considered challenging that Stafford keeper that was ruled short at the goal line but the staff in the box told him they saw it was short.
Lots of questions for Rams’ defense after this one – even as Murray played an excellent game – in a year where some regression was expected.
The offense also turned the ball over twice and those were AZ TDs, and couldn’t get TDs where they needed them.
znModeratorsure looked like the Cardinals
wanted it more.I posted this in the media on the Arz game thread ( http://theramshuddle.com/topic/media-on-the-arizona-home-game/#post-132765 ) but it can go here too. I agree with it.
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Ram_Ruler
The Rams still have one nasty bad habit. They really come out of big wins feeling themselves a little too much. And then get smacked in the mouth. If you look at our losses in 2020 you’ll see at least 3 “wtf” let downs too, including that whipping we got from Green Bay after dominating the Seahawks.
Feels like this team thinks they’re better than the work they put in week to week. Superbowl teams don’t do that. Guess we’ll see.
znModeratorDerek 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.…
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.
znModeratorRussell Small@brewnnut
Woods is one of the best possession WR in the league and he’s hardly targeted. I love Kupp but you can’t target him 13 times and ignore Woods.ramaniac@RamaniacG
If you’re going to play soft defense against a team with a weapon like Kyler, your own offense better play perfect. It didn’t, and I don’t know what the plan is with this defense if you find yourself behind.…
Ram_Ruler
The Rams still have one nasty bad habit. They really come out of big wins feeling themselves a little too much. And then get smacked in the mouth. If you look at our losses in 2020 you’ll see at least 3 “wtf” let downs too, including that whipping we got from Green Bay after dominating the Seahawks.
Feels like this team thinks they’re better than the work they put in week to week. Superbowl teams don’t do that. Guess we’ll see.
znModeratorThe 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
znModeratorCardinals managed to dominate the Rams with a 37-20 victory Sunday. Read story from @alexjweiner: https://t.co/WM6ebMLaTB
— Howard Balzer (@HBalzer721) October 4, 2021
znModeratorThe 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
znModeratorI wonder if they read their press from last week.
znModeratorRich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
The Rams’ defense has been bad.The Rams’ offense has been bad.
Let’s not put this all on Raheem Morris, who does deserve to be fairly criticized. Stafford, other than a couple of really (really!) nice throws, has been bad.
Updated standings
Rams uniforms:
Blue/blue 0-1 (0-3 all time)
Bone/bone 1-0 (6-1 all time)
Bone/blue 1-0 (2-1 all time)
Throwbacks 1-0Lindsey Thiry@LindseyThiry
“I’ve got to be way better getting our football team ready,” – Sean McVay𝕋𝕠𝕞 – 𝕃𝔸 ℝ𝕒𝕞𝕤@TL_LARams
Red zone playcalling should, once again, be under the microscope.Los Angeles Rams UK@LARams_UK
Seahawks winning a positive?Means the Rams stay a game ahead of them and the 49ers.
Rams24/7@Rams24_7
Good quote from Kenny Young “it’s not about who is the better team, it’s about who executes better.” That’s def how today felt. Felt like everything that could have gone wrong did. Don’t let this game define usThomas Shelby@ramsfan1987
Mcvay is a genius play designer, but has ALWAYS struggles calling them during a game and some fans will dispute it until the day they die.Joelle Nemecek@JoelleNemecek
McVay has had four years with these same issues and though they fixed the QB situation, McVays issues remain the same. You can’t score on 1yd line? You abandon the run early?znModeratorBlaine Grisak@bgrisakDTR
If Donald breaks the sack record today, let’s not forget about Deacon Jones who would have 170+ and Jack Youngblood who would have 150+ sacks if the NFL would count these numbers. Donald will have the official record, but remember these two. Three of the all-time greats.Kurt Warner@kurt13warner
@RamsNFL@AZCardinals play today I’m reminded & grateful for the opportunity each gave me when few believed… and as a dad I’m praying that there are similar ppl out there for my kids (and the many others out there) to give them a similar opportunity to chase their dreams!Ari Meirov@MySportsUpdate
#Bucs TE Rob Gronkowski told @JayGlazer that his injury is much worse than what people know: He says he suffered a punctured lung, a broken rib and 4 cracked ribs last week vs. the #Rams. Essentially made it impossible for him to play in a game he desperately wanted to.znModeratorBlaine Grisak@bgrisakDTR
The Rams have sacked Kyler Murray 11 times in four games for an average of 2.75 times per game. That number likely won’t go down given Cardinals OL issues heading into Sunday.trey wingo@wingoz
Let’s give it up for the defense:When Aaron Donald and J.J. Watt play one another in Week 4, it will be the first matchup in NFL history where 2 opposing players with 3+ AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Awards face each other
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aeneas1
rams rank 4th in opponent depth of pass average, meaning that teams have been throwing the ball short against the rams, which in turn can make it difficult to put up big qb pressure numbers.
all told, the rams defense also ranks:
7th – qb rating allowed
13th – yards per pass attempt allowed
23rd – completion % allowed (bend but don’t break)
7th – offensive points allowedznModeratorInteresting game. Actually a big challenge.
Rankings.
Offensive yards.
Arizona: 2nd
LA: 13thOffensive points.
Arizona: 1st
LA: 3rdDefensive yards.
Arizona: 11th
LA: 20thDefensive points allowed.
Arizona: 11th
LA: 9thznModeratorfriendly reminder: this is what Sean McVay looked like the last time the Cardinals beat the Rams pic.twitter.com/13i0pcGAg3
— Bate™ (@NoPlanB_) October 3, 2021
znModeratorThey start talking about Donald starting at about 2:43.
But the whole thing is worth listening to. He’s says a lot of good things about Stafford and the Rams.
znModeratorfrom NFL Power Rankings: Rams Are for Real: https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/09/28/nfl-power-rankings-week-4
1: Los Angeles Rams (3-0)
Last week: Win vs. Tampa Bay, 34–24
Next week: vs. ArizonaFirst, a confession: I liked the Rams a lot heading into the season. I liked the addition of Matthew Stafford. I liked the health of Cooper Kupp. I liked the daring of general manager Les Snead, who went out and added elite corner Jalen Ramsey in 2019, allowing whoever coordinated the defense to pair Ramsey with Aaron Donald—putting two top-five, defensive talents in the entire league on the same unit. It’s working. These Rams are better than “like” worthy. They look deep. They look scary—on both offense and defense. I’m starting to agree with my colleague Jenny Vrentas, who tabbed the Rams to win the Super Bowl. After their decimating of Tom Brady and the Bucs, the choice to put L.A. first here is an easy one, maybe the easiest one of all 32 rankings. Big game next week, though.
znModeratorfrom https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/09/29/nfl-mailbag-chiefs-worries-panthers-steelers-patriots
From K1SZN2021 (@KSzn2021): Do you see the Cardinals somehow beating the Rams in week 4 to stay undefeated?
If it were in Arizona, I’d think hard about it. But the Rams are playing too well, and that game is at SoFi Stadium. So I’m gonna stick with Matthew Stafford & Co.
znModerator#1 in the league 🏆🏆🏆🐏🏠@CooperKupp pic.twitter.com/Hm3D9Tm5su
— RamseyHouse 🥷🏾 (@RamsHowse) October 2, 2021
znModeratorFootball brings people together 💙@jalenramsey gives an inspiring fan who is battling cancer an awesome surprise 💪 #CrucialCatch pic.twitter.com/IuOpx5OcsL
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) October 1, 2021
znModeratorIt’s going to be hard to top this for hit of the year pic.twitter.com/afAV6yhOIm
— 𝕋𝕠𝕞 – 𝕃𝔸 ℝ𝕒𝕞𝕤 (@TL_LARams) October 2, 2021
znModeratorCornell@gqscholar
Imo Rapp is the biggest reason why Morris will have a hard time continuing to duplicate Staley succes in the offense. JJ > Rapp. Fuller isn’t playing at the same level as last yr either.SeattleRams@seattlerams_nfl
The Rams were watching Kupp since 2015, when he was an underclassman All-American receiver and record-setter at FCS school Eastern WashingtonBlaine Grisak@bgrisakDTR
A win tomorrow could distance the Rams from the Cardinals. Next four games:Rams – SEA, NYG, DET, HOU
Cardinals – SF, CLE, HOU, GBJourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
The Rams waived safety JR Reed and elevated OLB Obo Okoronkwo from the 21-day window to the active roster, per team.TurfShowTimes@TurfShowTimes
I hope Brian Allen continues on the trend of good play because man it’s been fun to watch.znModeratorNot tall enough✅
Arms not long enough✅
What now? Adapt like everyone else does regardless of what the rules and stats say. Arm lengths don’t block people pic.twitter.com/C1zgpwg5JG— Taylor Boggs (@Tboggs50) October 1, 2021
znModeratorArizona Cardinals at Los Angeles Rams – 4:05 p.m. Sunday
The Rams won the biggest games of the year to date, beating the defending Super Bowl champion Buccaneers, 34-24. Matthew Stafford outdueled Tom Brady, throwing for 343 yards and four touchdowns. Los Angeles led by multiple scores for much of the second half, and its defense registered six tackles for loss, including Aaron Donald’s first-ever sack of Brady. The Rams made their statement in the NFC; now they’ll look to do the same in their division against the Cardinals. Los Angeles opened as 5.5-point favorites.
Arizona continues to quiet offseason skeptics during a 3-0 start. The Cardinals beat the Jaguars 31-19, scoring 21 unanswered points to avoid the upset. James Conner ran for a pair of touchdowns while Kyler Murray added a third, and Byron Murphy returned an interception for a score, one of four takeaways by the Arizona defense. To get to 4-0, the Cardinals will need to snap an eight-game skid against the Rams.
znModeratorRams Brothers@RamsBrothers
Three starting offensive lineman for the Cardinals are game-time decisions:
• LG Justin Pugh – practiced fully yesterday
• RG Justin Murray- limited
• RT Kelvin Beachum – DNPTheir starting 5 has been excellent. But having even just 2 of 5 starters out vs. the Rams is shaky.
If Sean Harlow has to come in for Justin Pugh at any time — it’s not going to be good. Wouldn’t be fun to go against AD & co. in your second game ever.
Max Garcia (JM’s back-up) may see some time as well. Could be a reason why the lines moving in favor of the Rams again (-4.5)
These divisional games are primarily won in the trenches. The Cardinals would have a much better shot of beating the Rams in December IF their starting 5 can get fully healthy by then.
Emphasis on the importance of winning in the trenches/at the LOS. Advantage, Rams on paper
znModeratorThe Thursday Night Football win over Arizona in 2012. If you followed the Rams at the time, you remember how this game felt. It was a good night to be a fan! The defense was on an absolute tear in this game as they tallied 9 sacks on Kevin Kolb #MobSquad pic.twitter.com/UbMe6IO3TQ
— RAMS ON FILM (@RamsOnFilm) October 2, 2021
znModeratorRunning game is an issue.
Defense? I am with you guys…they need to cohere better.
Those are my 2 “first world problems” of the day.
(That joke was not meant to dismiss the run game/defense issues. I worry about those things too. It’s just that at the moment I had heard something that made me chuckle a bit at taking NFL issues so seriously. That’s all in fun. It’s my wife telling me stories about how things are at work. She’s an RN in the middle of a nursing shortage. In my mind, I was playing out this joke scenario where I would respond by saying yeah well that sounds bad and everything, but what about the Rams running game??!!)
znModeratorznModeratorMatthew Stafford has a 127.2 passer rating under pressure
1st among all QBs 🔥 pic.twitter.com/lyjZog07eY
— PFF Fantasy Football (@PFF_Fantasy) October 2, 2021
znModeratorThe vast majority of NFL experts are picking the Rams to beat the Cardinals in Week 4. https://t.co/x4BUUACR7l
— Rams Wire (@TheRamsWire) October 2, 2021
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