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Cardinals dominate on both ends to take 24-3 halftime lead over Rams

© Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Arizona Cardinals could not have asked for a better start as they look to pick up their first home victory against the Los Angeles Rams in nearly 10 years.

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Arizona leads Los Angeles 24-3 at halftime, as the Cardinals scored four-straight times to open the afternoon and 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. Kyler Murray completed 10-of-12 passes for 191 yards and three touchdowns in the half, while also rushing three times for 23 yards. James Conner ran the ball nine times for 50 yards, as Arizona outgained the Rams 262-121 in total yards.

The Cardinals defense was able to take advantage of a severely-depleted Rams offensive line. They had eight tackles for loss, three sacks and forced three three-and-outs and two turnovers-on-downs. Matthew Stafford went 12-for-18 on his pass attempts for 126 yards, as Cooper Kupp had four catches for 37 yards. Kyren Williams only had 16 yards on the ground on nine rushes. Budda Baker set the tone defensively for Arizona with six total tackles, including two for loss and a pass deflection.

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 Budda 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 Dennis 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 then picked up 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.

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.

The Cardinals will receive the kickoff to start the second half.

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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