Rams stay undefeated in division play, defeat Cardinals 24-22

The St. Louis Rams defeated the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday by the score of 24-22. The loss, the first for Arizona, was capped off by a stalled drive at midfield when quarterback Carson Palmer overthrew his receivers on consecutive plays to turn the ball over on downs with less than two minutes to go in the fourth quarter. The Rams, moved to 2-2 with the win, are now undefeated in division play and have plenty of momentum heading into their Week 5 match up with Green Bay.

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This was always going to be a game of the Cardinals high powered offense, averaging over 30 points per game entering Week 4, and the Rams stellar defense averaging more than four sacks per game in the same time frame. The question was, who was going to break first. The answer, was the Arizona offense. On five trips to the redzone, the Cardinals were forced to kick field goals on four of them. A late touchdown made things interesting, but wasn’t enough.

Oct 4, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; St. Louis Rams wide receiver Tavon Austin (11) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals during the second half at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Cardinals won 24-22. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Carson Palmer, like other quarterbacks the Rams have faced this year, completed a very high percentage of his passes in the first half, but watched that number tumble in the second. After all was said and done Palmer had thrown for 334 yards on 29 completions. He found the end zone just once though and was intercepted in the end zone by Rams cornerback Janoris Jenkins at the end of the first half.

The St. Louis defense did a great job getting pressure on Palmer all game long. They allowed him to complete the underneath throws for small gains and limited his big play ability. The Rams totaled four sacks on the day, forced three Cardinal turnovers and held the Arizona offense to just 2-11 on third down. The longest play from scrimmage would be a 22-yard completion to wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, but no Cardinals wide out would eclipse the 100-yard mark.

Arizona running back Chris Johnson also got bottled up for the most part earning 83-yards on 16 carries. 21 of those yards coming on one play. Rookie running back David Johnson managed just 18 rushing yards on the day and also fumbled once. The Cardinals fumbled four times as a team, recovering two of those. It was obvious the hard-hitting Rams defense took it’s toll.

On the other side the St. Louis offense finally stepped up to the plate and showed some of the prowess that helped them to a Week 1 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. Quarterback Nick Foles was more fluid and took more than a few shots down field. Playing with the lead all afternoon was certainly helpful, and made possible by the great special teams play. The Rams opened the game by forcing a fumble on the opening kick off which Foles quickly turned into a 12-yard touchdown pass to Tavon Austin to open the scoring.

Foles would finish the day 16/24 for 164 yards and three touchdowns. In addition to the opening score to Austin, Foles would find him later in the game for a second score to put the Rams up by nine at the time. He also connected with Stedman Bailey on a long 18-yard play-action pass into the corner of the end zone.

The story of the night was undoubtedly rookie running back Todd Gurley and his coming out party. Gurley, playing in only his second NFL game, was limited to just two rushing yards in the first half. However, the second half proved to be much different for the explosive back as he racked up 144 additional yards to finish with 146 on 19 carries. What may have been most impressive about the young player was his awareness late in the game as St. Louis was attempting to run out the clock and Gurley was mindful enough to essentially take a knee on two long runs to put the icing on the win.

The rushing attack was all Gurley, and could be that way moving forward, as all other Rams’ running backs combined for -1 yards on four carries. Austin added 20-yards on two carries.

St. Louis showed the determination and defensive power that earned them a victory against Seattle. This week, the offense finally held up their part of the bargain and provide enough relief and enough points to allow the defense to continue to be aggressive. However, the Rams soft defensive coverage of opposing wide outs continues to allow opposing teams to win the time of possession battle and this afternoon was no different. The Cardinals controlled the ball for more than half the game at over 33 minutes.

The only bad news from today’s contest was the loss of linebacker Alec Ogletree. Entering the game, Ogletree was leading the team in tackles with 32 and had added two sacks. Safety T.J. McDonald rolled up on Ogletree’s ankle late in the third quarter bringing down the linebacker. He was carted off directly to the locker room and according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN will require ankle surgery. He may be a candidate for IR with designation to return but his timetable is still unknown.