The Los Angeles Rams absolutely cratered on Sunday, falling 18-16 to Mike LaFleur’s Arizona Cardinals on a walk-off field goal by Chad Ryland. This wasn’t just another loss; it was a heartbreaking defeat, coming just one minute after punter Ethan Evans put the Rams up by a single point. Now at a dismal 2-4 and sitting dead last in the NFC West, the Rams’ season is about as close to life support as it can get, trailing even the Cardinals.
Another Offensive Embarrassment
Talk about an offensive meltdown. A week after giving up 45 points, the Cardinals, who’ve been one of the worst-rated defenses through five weeks, somehow held the Rams to a measly 16 points. Matthew Stafford’s stat line of 25-of-33 for 222 yards and two touchdowns with no picks sounds okay, but it doesn’t tell the full story of how utterly inept L.A.’s offense was for most of the game. They needed a late touchdown pass to Colby Parkinson just to scrape together 16 points. It got even messier early on when kicker Blake Grupe got injured. That meant no field goals after that, including a disastrous two-point attempt after their initial touchdown that ended in a sack-fumble of Stafford. Yikes.
There’s a growing, and frankly concerning, trend with this Rams offense: they can’t get anything going until they’re trailing or deep into the fourth quarter. It happened again in Week 6. Sixteen points is rarely enough to win in the NFL, and it sure wasn’t enough on Sunday. This was supposed to be a “get right” game for them, and instead, they looked flat. Sean McVay, the supposed offensive mastermind, seems to be regressing as a playcaller, opting for screens on third and long that often lose yards instead of getting a first down. After the game, McVay himself said it best, “We beat ourselves. We’ll never win a game if we don’t figure out how to stop beating ourselves.”
Defense Was Okay, But Not Enough
Even without Trent McDuffie and Myles Garrett, the Rams’ defense was definitely the stronger unit compared to their offense. They kept L.A. in the game, which has been a constant theme this year, by holding the Cardinals to six field goals and zero touchdowns. That’s good! But, allowing six scoring drives is still a huge problem. You can’t let a team score on six separate possessions, even if they’re all field goals, and expect to win. They just couldn’t get that crucial stop when they needed it most.
This loss is an exciting victory for Arizona, but it’s an absolutely embarrassing and concerning one for the Rams. With a 2-4 record and sitting at the bottom of the division, if they don’t figure out how to stop beating themselves, as McVay put it, this season is going to be over before it even really began.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Turf Show Times.
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