It’s gone from bad to worse for the Los Angeles Rams this season. Coming into Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals, they were 3-5 and in desperate need of a win to snap their two-game losing streak.
Buy Rams TicketsThey did the opposite, losing to the Cardinals and falling to 3-6 on the year. There’s still an outside chance at the playoffs if they go on a run, but the Rams don’t look like a postseason team.
They got off to a promising start, too, despite being without Matthew Stafford. John Wolford led a 14-play drive that spanned 57 yards and ended with a field goal, putting the Rams up 3-0. From there, the Cardinals scored 17 unanswered points to take a 17-3 lead and eventually went up 24-10 in the fourth quarter.
It was another ugly showing from the offense, and not strictly because Wolford was at quarterback. There was just no cohesion or consistency at all.
Final score: Cardinals 27, Rams 17
Game notes
- The Rams rotated quarterbacks in this one, and it was hard to find a rhyme or reason behind the way McVay went about it. John Wolford played most of the snaps, but Bryce Perkins came in at times – both for designed runs and a screen pass to Cooper Kupp.
- They got off to a 3-0 lead with a field goal on their opening possession, but it was all downhill after that. They went three-and-out on their next three drives.
- Even against Colt McCoy, the Rams defense allowed 17 first-half points. Granted, the defense was on the field a lot because of the anemic offense, but the defense should’ve played better against a backup quarterback.
- Wolford is not the answer at backup quarterback. He looked out of his element against the Cardinals defense, missing open receivers and struggling to push the ball more than 5 yards downfield. On one of his only deep passes, he was picked by Budda Baker in the fourth quarter.
- McVay’s playcalling was horrendous. He called too many give-up plays on third down, giving his offense no chance. And after the Rams ran the ball well on their opening drive, he called three straight passes on the next possession and the team went three-and-out.
- Cooper Kupp went down with a right ankle injury in the fourth quarter, getting hit in the leg as he came down from an attempted reception. He was quickly ruled doubtful to return and did not come back in the game.
It was over when...
… James Conner scored a 9-yard touchdown with 7:41 left in the fourth quarter. That put the Cardinals up 24-10, and considering how poorly the Rams’ offense is playing, they were going to have a really hard time coming back from that deficit.
JC making it look EASY.@JamesConner_ x #BirdCityFootball pic.twitter.com/wvhRHJkovk
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) November 14, 2022
3 stars of the game
No. 3 star: Allen Robinson – 4 catches, 44 yards
No. 2 star: Tyler Higbee – 8 catches, 73 yards
No. 1 star: Bobby Wagner – 9 tackles, 1 sack
What's next?
The Rams will hit the road for a Week 11 game against the Saints in New Orleans. The Saints are one game worse than the Rams at 3-7, so this is getting to be do-or-die time for both of these teams. It remains to be seen if Matthew Stafford will be able to play in that game.
