The Los Angeles Rams’ defense, still adjusting to playing without Aaron Donald, struggled to handle Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals.
With injuries hitting the offensive line hard, the Rams found it tough to create running opportunities or protect quarterback Matthew Stafford.
This led to a 41-10 blowout loss to the Cardinals on Sunday, ending Los Angeles’ nine-game winning streak in Arizona.
“There’s not anything positive I can take away from today,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “It was an incredibly humbling three-hour window. They did what they wanted to do from the start and we didn’t do anything to give ourselves a chance.”
The Rams (0-2) had been dominant against the Cardinals (1-1) since McVay became head coach in 2017, winning 13 of 15 games, including nine straight in Glendale.
A series of injuries, especially to the offensive line, and various breakdowns left the Rams struggling at State Farm Stadium.
“That’s not how we want to look and that’s not who we are,” Rams defensive end Kobie Turner said.
The Rams’ offense had shown some promise against Detroit last week, despite many offensive line injuries, taking the Lions to overtime before losing 26-20. Los Angeles’ makeshift offensive line couldn’t stand up to the Cardinals on a rough Sunday in the desert.
Arizona’s changing defense caused significant problems, closing gaps quickly before Rams runners could get through. Los Angeles ended with just 53 rushing yards on 20 carries.
The pressure on quarterback Matthew Stafford was particularly troubling.
The Cardinals got through the blocks so quickly that Stafford had little time to read the defense, much less make long throws. Except for a 42-yard completion on a broken play in the second quarter, Stafford was forced to throw short passes, ending up with 216 yards on 19-of-27 passing.
Stafford was also sacked five times — three of those by Dennis Gardeck — and lost a fumble.
“I had some opportunities to get the ball out of my hands and didn’t,” Stafford said. “It’s frustrating as a player to do that.”
The retirement of Donald, one of the top defensive players of his time, left a big gap, but the Rams had some positive moments against the Lions last week.
Against the Cardinals, however, nothing seemed to go right.
Murray frequently avoided pressure to extend plays, giving his receivers time to get open. He connected with Marvin Harrison Jr. on a 60-yard touchdown during a rollout late in the first quarter and dodged three tackles in the second quarter before finding Elijah Higgins in the back of the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown that made it 21-0.
Murray also ran for 59 yards on five carries, while James Conner rushed for 122 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.
“He was moving around the pocket, doing Kyler Murray things, scrambling around,” Rams linebacker Michael Hoecht said. “We’ve just got to keep him bottled up, continue to take one more step, get him on the ground and not let him extend plays because that’s when he’s Kyler Murray.”
Even when the Rams managed to do something right, it still went wrong.
As Arizona was driving, Rams linebacker Jared Verse caused a fumble by stripping Conner around the 4-yard line. The ball rolled forward, and tight end Trey McBride recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown that made it 41-10 early in the fourth quarter.
“This was one of those days that was really humbling,” McVay said.
