The Arizona Cardinals lost to the Los Angeles Rams in their season finale, snapping their modest two-game winning streak. It extended their losing streak to the Rams to six games, although they played much better overall than in the previous five.
Who were the players to stand out and the players to disappoint in the loss?
Stud: TE Dan Arnold
Arnold had a big game, making fans think that maybe he is a good answer at tight end. He had four catches for 76 yards and a touchdown. He looks promising, at least.
Stud: WR Damiere Byrd
Byrd continued his big play in December. He had a team-high seven catches for 74 yards and a score. He showed great hands on his touchdown and his ability to separate when he caught a 33-yard pass from Kyler Murray. He showed he could be worth keeping around for another season or two.
Stud and dud: Kyler Murray
He showed toughness by playing through his hamstring injury. He played very well in the pocket. He had 325 passing yards and two touchdowns passes. However, he also was picked off twice. One was off a tipped pass and the other was bad throw. Kliff Kingsbury gushed about Murray’s performance and he was a big reason why they played better, but he was also part of the reason why they lost. He was credited for four turnovers — the two picks and two lost fumbles, although it is hard to blame him for those.
Dud: Chandler Jones
Let me make this clear. Jones was not a dud for playing poorly. He had a good game, making plays when he could. The Rams’ game plan was clearly to take him out of the game and he found ways to impact it. However, when there was talk of maybe getting the sack record or even to 20 sacks or even the sack title and he doesn’t get any of them, it is disappointing. We all wanted at least one sack. The Rams made sure that didn’t happen.
By the way, Jones has been shut out in three of the last four games against the Rams and had only half a sack in the other game.
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