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Cardinals crush Rams 41-10 for 1st win of season

© Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

The Arizona Cardinals picked up a statement 41-10 victory over the Los Angeles Rams Sunday afternoon in their home opener.

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The win marked the first time the Cardinals (1-1) have beaten the Rams (0-2) at home since way back on Nov. 11, 2014 when Arizona defeated the then St. Louis Rams 31-14.

Kyler Murray finished with a perfect passer rating (third Cardinals QB ever to do so with 10+ pass attempts), going 17-for-21 on his throws for 266 yards and three touchdowns and rushing five times for 59 yards. The Cardinals had 237 rushing yards as a team, as James Conner had 21 carries for 122 yards and a touchdown. Rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. caught four passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns, all in the first quarter, after he only had one catch for four yards last week. Trey McBride had six receptions for 67 yards and scored a touchdown by recovering a Conner fumble in the end zone.

Arizona outgained Los Angeles 489-245 in total yards and never looked back after a 24-3 halftime lead that included three-straight touchdowns to open the game.

Matthew Stafford completed 19-of-27 passes for 216 yards for Los Angeles, and Kyren Williams only had 25 yards on the ground on eight carries, but did get the lone touchdown of the game for Los Angeles. The Rams were already down star wide receiver Puka Nacua, who was placed on injured reserve this week, as well as three starting offensive linemen, and lost Cooper Kupp to an ankle injury for the entire second half after he had four catches for 37 yards in the first half.

Arizona took advantage of the injuries, totaling 12 tackles for loss as a team and five sacks, three of which were by Dennis Gardeck, who had four tackles for loss total and forced the only turnover of the game for Los Angeles with a strip sack on Stafford in the fourth quarter. Budda Baker led the defense with eight tackles, including two tackles for loss.

This was the most lopsided loss of Sean McVay’s career. The Cardinals and Rams will not meet again until Week 17 in Los Angeles.

Game Flow

First Quarter

The Cardinals won the coin toss and elected to differ. Blake Corum returned the opening kickoff all the way to the Arizona 49-yard line for the Rams. After a nine-yard rush by Williams to start the drive, Arizona won a challenge that overturned a Rams first-down completion on third down and Baker stuffed a fourth-down screen play to Kupp, giving Arizona its first offensive possession after a turnover on downs.

Murray looked Harrison’s way on the very first play, but the pass was low and incomplete. Conner’s first two carries were both over 10 yards (16 and 13) and quickly moved the Cardinals all the way to the Los Angeles 25. Harrison then made his presence felt with an incredible 23-yard touchdown catch on a post route while keeping his feet in the back of the end zone for his first-career NFL touchdown. In total, the Cardinals only needed six plays and 2:27 to go 60 yards for their first score.

The Arizona defense came to play early, forcing a three-and-out on the ensuing Los Angeles possession after a Gardeck sack. Greg Dortch then returned the punt 17 yards to the Arizona 40-yard line.

On the very first play of Arizona’s second drive, Murray found Harrison WIDE open for a 60-yard touchdown to put Arizona up 14-0 with 8:47 left in the first quarter.

The Cardinals had a lot of momentum on both sides of the ball, forcing another three-and-out for the Rams, but Los Angeles pinned the punt within the Arizona 1-yard line.

Harrison still found himself in one-on-one coverage after his hot start, and Murray connected with him once again to start the drive on an over-the-shoulder grab for 15 yards. The Cardinals were then pushed back half the distance to the goal after a holding penalty, but the Rams were whistled for their own defensive holding penalty to give Arizona an automatic first down. After the Rams forced a third-and-five, Murray used some of his magic to stay alive in the pocket and found Harrison wide open again for a 32-yard completion.

At the end of the first quarter, the Cardinals were continuing to drive on the Los Angeles 23-yard line after Conner picked up a first down with his legs.

Through 15 minutes of action, Harrison had four catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns, Murray was 7-for-8 for 148 passing yards and two touchdowns and Conner rushed six times for 42 yards. Arizona had nine first downs compared to 0 for the Rams and led 14-0.

Second Quarter

Murray could not be tackled on a third-and-five, making four Rams miss in the backfield before launching an 18-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Higgins with just under 14 minutes left in the second quarter. This capped off a 13-play, 99-yard drive that lasted 8:31, as the Cardinals scored on their first three possessions for the second-straight week.

Stafford had his first big play on the next Los Angeles drive, heaving a ball up for grabs while under distress to Demarcus Robinson for a 42-yard gain. The Rams quickly found themselves inside the Arizona 10-yard line after an unnecessary roughness penalty. However, the Cardinals were able to hold Los Angeles to a 29-yard field goal after Zaven Collins sacked Stafford on third down.

Murray was completely dialed in, throwing another first down, this time to Michael Wilson for 23 yards, to begin the next Arizona offensive possession. The Cardinals were unable to score another touchdown after Murray rushed for nine yards to the Los Angeles 30-yard line on a third-and-14, and Matt Prater drilled a 48-yard field goal to put them ahead 24-3 with 5:09 left in the first half.

The Cardinals and Gardeck got another third-down sack to force yet another Los Angeles three-and-out on the following LA possession.

After Arizona got the ball back, Murray overthrew Harrison, who was wide open, on the first play. The Rams forced the Cardinals’ first punt of the day and a three-and-out after getting their first sack on third down as the clock went to the two-minute warning.

With the two-minute warning passed and all three timeouts, the Rams picked up a first down on a third-and-eight and then got into field-goal range with 58 seconds left after Stafford connected with Tutu Atwell for 16 yards. This got Stafford rolling a little bit, as he next found Kupp on a sidearm throw over the middle for 24 yards to the Arizona 17. It was suddenly a goal-to-go situation after Tyler Johnson had a 13-yard reception.

Baker saved a touchdown with a tackle-for-loss on Williams on third-and-goal and five seconds left, but the Rams decided to go for the touchdown on fourth down rather than kick a field goal. The Cardinals were whistled for a pass interference as time expired, but the ball was deemed uncatchable and Arizona took a 24-3 lead in the break.

At the half, Harrison had caught four passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns, all in the first quarter, after he only had one catch for four yards last week. Kyler Murray completed 10-of-12 passes for 191 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing three times for 23 yards. Conner ran the ball nine times for 50 yards, as Arizona outgained the Rams 262-121 in total yards.

The Cardinals defense had eight tackles for loss, three sacks and forced three three-and-outs and two turnovers-on-downs. Stafford went 12-for-18 on his pass attempts for 126 yards, as Kupp had four catches for 37 yards. Williams only had 16 yards on the ground on nine rushes. Baker set the tone defensively for Arizona with six total tackles, including two for loss and a pass deflection, as Arizona took a 24-3 lead into the break.

Third Quarter

Soon after Arizona received the second-half kickoff, Murray advanced the ball to the Rams 33-yard line with a 26-yard scramble. Two plays later, Conner rushed for 22 yards to the Los Angeles 5-yard line. On second-and-goal, Conner high-stepped into the end zone to give Arizona a 31-3 lead with 10:33 to go in the second half after an eight-play, 70-yard drive. This 28-point lead was the first time the Cardinals led by 28 points or more since they defeated the Dallas Cowboys 38-10 in Week 6 of 2020.

Cardinals linebacker Krys Barnes sacked Stafford on third-and-one on the first Rams possession of the half to give the Arizona defense another three-and-out and a quick chance to extend its lead after the punt.

After Arizona picked up a first down, Trey McBride made an incredible catch in double coverage to move the ball beyond midfield. Trey Benson was then stuffed two-straight times on his rushing attempts and after a three-yard pass to Greg Dortch, Arizona found itself in a fourth-and-five situation at the Los Angeles 39-yard line. The Cardinals then turned to Matt Prater, who drilled the 57-yard field goal, his longest attempt and make this season. Arizona led 34-3 with 3:26 left in the third quarter

Stafford had a 10-yard, 21-yard and 22-yard completion to get the ball all the way into the redzone for the Rams. Arizona then forced two incompletions, and after a nine-yard pass to Williams, he was able to give Los Angeles a goal-to-go situation following a four-yard run on fourth-and-run. The next play, Williams rushed into the end zone from four yards out for the Rams first touchdown. It was 34-10 Arizona with 41 seconds left in the third quarter.

Time ticked out in the third quarter after an offsides penalty on Los Angeles at the beginning of Arizona’s next drive and then a five-yard rush by Conner to get a first down.

Through three quarters, Murray went 15-for-18 on pass attempts for 240 yards and three touchdowns and rushed four times for 49 yards. James Conner was over 100 yards rushing with 17 carries for 101 yards and a touchdown to power Arizona to a 34-10 advantage.

Fourth Quarter

Murray and the starters stayed in at the start of the fourth, and a few plays in, Murray found McBride for 18 yards to the Los Angeles 37. After a couple big runs by Conner, Murray kept the ball on a read option on third-and-one to give Arizona a first-and-goal at the Rams 7-yard line. Following an incomplete pass to Harrison, the Rams forced a fumble on a run by Conner, but it rolled right to McBride in the end zone for another seven points after the Prater extra point. Arizona led 41-10 with 9:02 to go after 11-play, 70-yard touchdown drive that spanned 6:39.

Stafford had two nice completions on the next Rams drive, but Gardeck stripped him on the third play for his third sack of the game and the ball was recovered by Cardinals defenssive lineman L.J. Collier.

Clayton Tune subbed in for Murray at QB when Arizona got the ball back, as did most of the other backups at their respective possessions. Emari Demercado almost broke off a touchdown run on a third-and-long, rushing for 41 yards on his first carry to the Los Angeles 21. While in the red zone, Tune mishandled a handoff and fumbled it, and the ball was picked up by Los Angeles and returned to the Rams 28.

Stafford remained in the game on the next Rams possession even with the 31-point deficit, as Corum got his first action of the game at running back. The Rams gained 28 yards on the final drive, but let the clock run to double zeroes to give Arizona the 41-10 victory.

Next Up

The Cardinals will look to pick up their second-straight win at home next Sunday (Sept. 22) at 1:25 p.m. MST against the Detroit Lions (1-1), who also defeated the Rams in Week 1, but lost 20-16 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers today. The Rams will go back home for another divisional matchup against the San Francisco 49ers (1-1).

Marvin Harrison Jr. shines with 2 touchdowns in Cardinals’ fast start against Rams

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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau

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