Rams take their first halftime lead of the season; up 10-9 against Arizona

The St. Louis Rams are on the ropes in the early part of the season and it showed in the first half against the Arizona Cardinals. Opening things up with an early forced fumble on the opening kick off, the Rams were aggressive and looked to catch the Cardinals sleeping in the early parts of their Week 4 contest.

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Safety Mark Barron came flying down the sideline on the opening kick off and forced a fumble allowing the Rams to capitalize with a 12-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Nick Foles to wide receiver Tavon Austin. Austin would also catch a deep play action pass later in the half good for 47-yards. The pass was key in setting up the Rams second scoring drive, a field goal putting them up 10-6 late in the half.

The St. Louis offense looks to have awakened a bit from their two week hiatus. Foles was looking down field more often and found his favorite target tight end Jared Cook for three catches and 22-yards. Cook was also the recipient of a touchdown pass, but Cardinals cornerback Tyron Mathieu made a great play to break up the pass. It was a pleasant surprises to see the offense looking downfield. St. Louis still needs to improve on third down, converting only once out of five opportunities in the first half.

Sep 27, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals running back Chris Johnson (23) against the San Francisco 49ers at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Rams defense stifled the highest scoring team in the league in the first half limiting them to just nine points. Carson Palmer was hit six times and sacked once. He was also picked off in the end zone by cornerback Janoris Jenkins on a deep ball to John Brown. Jenkins was all over the field during the first half including a couple of big hits and pass break ups. Palmer, like other quarterbacks the Rams have played this season, finished with a high completions percentage, but no notable big plays.

St. Louis has struggled against the run allowing Chris Johnson to gain 51 yards on just 11 carries. However, 21 of those yards came on one play.

The Rams have also limited veteran receiver Larry Fitzgerald to 13 receiving yards on one catch. Fitzgerald is coming off consecutive multi-touchdown games that saw him eclipse 110 receiving yards in both games.

The Rams defense has dominated this game so far. They are winning the turnover battle, pressuring Palmer and limiting big plays from Arizona. They have limited the Cardinals on third down, allowing only two conversions, but are once again losing the time of possession battle to the tune of 17 min to 10 min. St. Louis needs to improve this number and save their defense. Part of that comes from improving their third down conversion rate.

St. Louis Rams Team Leaders:

Passing: Nick Foles 6/10 82 YDS 1 TD

Rushing: Tavon Austin 1 ATT 8 YDS

Receiving: Tavon Austin 2 REC 59 YDS 1 TD

Arizona Cardinals Team Leaders:

Passing: Carson Palmer 12/18 119 YDS 0 TD 1 INT

Rushing: Chris Johnson 11 ATT 51 YDS

Receiving: John Brown 5 REC 50 YDS