For the first time this season, the Los Angeles Rams have won back-to-back games. They steamrolled the Arizona Cardinals to complete the season sweep, beating their division rivals, 37-14. They’ve now outscored the Cardinals 63-23 this season, continuing their dominance over Arizona in the last seven years.
The Rams actually trailed 8-7 late in the first quarter but from that point forward, they outscored the Cardinals 30-6, completely shutting down Arizona’s offense. Of the Cardinals’ 292 total yards, 216 of them came on the opening drive and the last two drives in garbage time.
The Rams improved to 5-6 on the year and are just one game out of a playoff berth in the NFC, so their postseason hopes are certainly alive. Here’s a recap of how things went down on Sunday afternoon at State Farm Stadium, with the Rams remaining in control for most of the game.
Final score: Rams 37, Cardinals 14
Game notes
- The Rams came out hot with a 75-yard touchdown drive on their opening possession, which was capped off by Tyler Higbee’s first score of the season. The Cardinals responded with a touchdown drive of their own on the next possession, taking an 8-7 lead in the first quarter.
- Each team punted on their next drives but the Rams’ third possession resulted in another touchdown, again to Higbee. The key play on that possession was a 6-yard catch by Davis Allen on third down to help set up Higbee’s touchdown.
- Kyren Williams was outstanding in the first half, rushing for 64 yards and adding 56 yards receiving in the first two quarters alone. He also added a touchdown, his eighth of the season. He picked up right where he left off after rushing for 154 yards in the second half against the Cardinals back in Week 6, which was the last game he played. Tutu Atwell had a big impact in the first half, as well. He caught three passes for 76 yards, including a 42-yarder on the opening drive.
- Cooper Kupp was active in this one despite suffering an ankle injury last week, but the ankle was still bothering him, it seems. He limped a little bit after a catch in the first quarter and was checked on the sideline, but he remained on the field. It was a quiet day from Kupp, however; he caught just three passes for 18 yards.
- The Rams defense allowed the Cardinals to do very little offensively, giving up just 102 yards in the first half — 75 of which came on their first drive of the game, too. Kyler Murray had a rough time throwing the ball all afternoon.
- Kobie Turner was at the center of the defensive performance, recording two sacks on Kyler Murray — which isn’t easy when you consider how elusive and quick Murray is in the pocket. He finished the day with four total tackles and those two sacks.
- Williams ended the game with 204 total yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns, his fourth multi-touchdown game of the season in just seven games played. It was the best performance of his career, proving to be the catalyst on offense.
- Royce Freeman had a big day in the backfield, too. He rushed for 77 yards and a touchdown on only 13 carries, complementing Williams nicely as the backup.
- Lucas Havrisik had a shaky performance, which was one of the only negatives of this win by the Rams. He missed a 50-yard field goal and a PAT later on in the fourth quarter. The Rams probably won’t make a change at kicker right now but he hasn’t exactly been reliable.
It was over when…
… Williams scored his second touchdown of the game, a 3-yard reception from Stafford. It gave the Rams a 31-8 lead over Arizona, a margin much too big for the Cardinals to overcome in the fourth quarter.
3 stars of the game
No. 3 star: Matthew Stafford — 229 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT
No. 2 star: Jordan Fuller — 3 tackles, 4 pass breakups
No. 1 star: Kyren Williams –Â 16 carries, 143 yards, 1 TD. 6 receptions, 61 yards, 1 TD
Play of the game
Williams isn’t known as a big-play threat for the Rams, but he had three plays of 20-plus yards in this one, including a 56-yard run. It’s his longest run of the season and helped set up a 24-yard field goal by Lucas Havrisik to increase the Rams’ lead to 24-8.
What's next?
The Rams will return home for a Week 13 matchup with the Browns, who boast one of the best defenses in the NFL. Cleveland is without Deshaun Watson for the rest of the season, but it’s still a competitive team with Dorian Thompson-Robinson under center. Kickoff is set for 4:25 p.m. ET from SoFi Stadium.
