The Arizona Cardinals lost on Sunday to the Los Angeles Rams 34-7 at State Farm Stadium. It was not pretty from the start.
What did we learn in the loss?
Defensive personnel changes
There were two notable defensive changes in the lineup on Sunday. First, inside linebacker Joe Walker no longer had a part-time role. He replaced Haason Reddick in base defensive packages weeks ago. On Sunday, he played in nickel as well, leaving Reddick to only appear in goalline packages.
The other was at cornerback. Patrick Peterson and Byron Murphy were the starters and Tramaine Brock came in for nickel packages. However, Brock had played in the slot almost all season. On Sunday, Murphy moved to the slot for nickel packages and Brock played outside. That is the role the team envisioned he would have when he was drafted.
The passing defense was awful again
The Cardinals entered the week with the worst pass defense in the league, allowing an average of 297.5 net passing yards per game. They had allowed the most passing touchdowns, had the fewest interceptions and allowed the highest opponent passer rating.
Nothing improved after the bye week. Rams quarterback Jared Goff had 424 passing yards and two touchdowns. His passer rating was 120.7. The Rams ended up with 417 net passing yards.
The Cardinals have now allowed at least 300 net passing yards in six of their last seven games.
More tight end woes
The Rams’ starting tight end, Gerald Everett, was out with a knee injury. That didn’t matter. Tyler Higbee stepped in and had a big game. He caught seven passes for 107 yards and a touchdown. The Cardinals have allowed more receiving yards and touchdown to tight ends than anyone else in the league.
Robert Woods feasted on the Cardinals defense
Goff had a big game. Perhaps no one had a bigger one than Woods. He was targeted 19 times by Goff and finished with 13 catches for 172 yards. He turned a third-down catch that looked like would be for little gain into a 48-yard play.
The Cardinals couldn’t stop the run, either
After 10 straight games of giving up at least 100 yards on the ground, the Cardinals shut down the San Francisco 49ers’ running game before the bye. It looked like they might have figured out that part of their defense.
However, the Rams rushed for 132 against Arizona. Todd Gurley rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries, his second-highest rushing total this season. He also added a 20-yard reception.
Third down was bad on both sides of the ball
On offense, the Cardinals only converted on 2-of-13 on third down. Defensively, they allowed the Rams to get first downs on 8-of-13 third-down plays.
It has plagued them all year.
They didn’t even compete
The Cardinals have played hard all season. On Sunday, it didn’t look like they had the effort. “First game all year I didn’t think we competed like we’re able to,” said coach Kliff Kingsbury after the game. “I didn’t think we had the juice, coaches or players.”
There were Rams players wide open. Cornerback Patrick Peterson got taken out of a play by quarterback Jared Goff blocking him.
It looked like the defense gave up.
Rams continue to own the Cardinals
Since Sean McVay became coach of the Rams, the Cardinals had lost all four of their previous games against him and the games weren’t even close. The Rams had shut them out twice and outscored them by a combined 130-25. They beat the Cardinals for the fifth straight time overall and fifth consecutive time in Arizona 34-7. The Cardinals have allowed an average of almost 33 points per game to the Rams and have scored an average of less than seven points.
Kyler Murray was bad
Murray had perhaps his worst game of the season. He failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time since October. He was sacked six times, the most since he was sacked eight times in Week 3. He only had 163 passing yards on 19-of-34 passing. He threw one interception but easily could have had three.
Taylor Rapp intercepted him once and returned it for a touchdown. Rapp dropped another that would have been a pick-six, and actually picked off another pass that was taken away on review and there was pass interference called.
Murray did not look sharp and never got into any sort of rhythm until the fourth quarter when the game was already decided.
Injuries on defense
The Cardinals entered the game completely healthy. Two defensive starters went down on Sunday. Defensive lineman Jonathan Bullard, who had just returned from a foot injury that sidelined him previously, injured his hamstring. He left the game and did not return.
Rookie safety Jalen Thompson also got hurt and did not return to the game.
They clinch a losing record and are eliminated from the postseason
With the loss, the Cardinals now are 3-8-1. This means they will have a losing record for the third time in four years. They have not had a winning record since 2015.
The loss also officially eliminated them from postseason contention. They didn’t really have a chance, as they had to win all their remaining games entering this week and the 8-3 Minnesota Vikings had to lose their final five games. Nonetheless, it is December and the Cardinals are out of it.
That isn’t what people hoped would happen this season.
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