Kyler Murray and the Cardinals beat the Rams 37-20

Los Angeles Rams #9 Matthew Stafford (QB) throwing the football downfield to an open receiver against the Arizona Cardinals defense. Photo by Jerry Kelly/T.G.Sportstv1.

10/3/21 INGLEWOOD, CA - The Los Angeles Rams, with an impressive win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week, battled for first place in the NFC West against the Arizona Cardinals and got beaten 37-20 at SoFi Stadium.

Matthew Stafford completed 26 of his 41 passes for 280-yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Darrell Henderson Jr. carried the ball 14 times for the Rams for 89-yards.

Henderson Jr. looked good in his return, and the Rams' rushing attack working, but they got away from it when the Cardinals were pulling away from them.

"He did a nice job," Rams' head coach Sean McVay said. "I thought Darrell (Henderson) was sharp from the jump. I thought our line did a good job creating some removal. We were running the ball efficiently. It just kind of got out in some of those situations when we weren't able to stick with it when the score got out of hand. But I got to do a better job of being patient and making sure that, again, I'm putting our guys in better spots. But I thought Darrell (Henderson) did a nice job today."

Arizona Cardinals #1 Kyler Murray (QB) trying to avoid being sacked by the Los Angeles Rams #41 Kenny Long (ILB). Photo by Jerry Kelly/T.G.Sportstv1.

The Rams led 3-0 in the first quarter after Matt Gay kicked a 42-yard field goal. The Rams Leonard Floyd sacked the Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray for a fourteen-yard loss on their first possession, forcing them to punt.

Stafford on the Rams' next offensive series underthrew a pass to his wide receiver DeSean Jackson, and Byron Murphy Jr. from the Cardinals intercepted his pass.

The Cardinals led 7-3 after Murry threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Green with 5:50 left in the first quarter.

The Rams regained the lead 10-7 when Stafford threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Van Jefferson, and the extra point kick by ay was good.

Arizona would score again in the second quarter when Murray found his tight-end Maxx Williams for a 14-yard touchdown catch, now led the Rams 14-10.

The Cardinals' defense got their second turnover when Sony Michel from the Rams fumbled the ball, and the Cardinals recovered the ball on their twenty-one-yard line.

Arizona Cardinals #6 James Conner (RB) one-yard touchdown in the third quarter against the Los Angeles Rams Defense. Photo by Jerry Kelly/T.G.Sportstv1.

Arizona increased their lead to 21-10 on a 1-yard touchdown run by James Conner with 8:44 left in the first half. Darrell Henderson Jr. was looking good in his return and had the running game going. Stafford seemed off with his passes missing Copper Kupp, Robert Woods, and DeSean Jackson several times during the game.

Gay kicked a 22-yard field goal, and the Rams trail the Cardinals 21-13 with 3:22 left in the first half. Murry would use his legs to extend plays and not be sacked by the Rams' defenders. Arizona led at halftime 24-13, after a 23-yard field goal by Matt Prater.

Stafford in the first half completed 11 of his 21 passes for 145-yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Murray completed 17 of his 24 passes for 186-yards and two touchdowns.

In the third quarter, the Cardinals led 27-13 after Prater kicked a 55-yard field goal. Arizona stuck with the running game, and it paid off again when Conner scored again with a one-yard touchdown run, and the extra point was good making the score 34-13.

The Rams had a golden opportunity to put points on the board in the fourth quarter when Stafford scrambled to the Cardinals' 1-yard line but didn't score after four tries.

The Rams had the Cardinals pinned inside their one-yard line after not getting into the endzone, but Arizona's Chase Edmonds broke free for 54-yards, and Prater capped off the drive with a 23-yard field goal making the score 37-13 with 3:38 left in the game.

Los Angeles Rams #2 Robert Woods (WR) 14-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter against Arizona Cardinals #23 Robert Alford. Photo by Jerry Kelly/T.G.Sportstv1.

Robert Woods caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Stafford that made the final score 37-20 to give the Rams their first loss of the season.

After the game, I had a chance to ask the Cardinals head coach Cliff Kingsbury about the play of his offensive line and defensive line, and this is what he said.

"Yeah, I thought both fronts of ours really played physical and set the tone. Defensive line – we knew we had to get in his face. He's such a great player, (Rams QB Matthew) Stafford, and try to disrupt the timing. They still had some big-time plays, but I thought we did just enough to create some turnovers and really turn the tide. And then our offensive line – (OL) Max Garcia stepping in, (OL) Josh Jones sliding to tackle which he hadn't played much. To rush for over 200 yards in an NFL game, that's a big, big-time accomplishment."

Murray after the game was very pleased about the game plan against the Rams and the Cardinals being 4-0 in the NFC West.

“I was pretty confident coming into this game with the game plan we had, the week of practice that we put together, and probably the best game plan, I think personally, that we’ve had since I've been in the league. So, with that, being confident in all the guys, this team, I was just confident just going out there and letting it ride and the guys did the same. I can't be more proud of them. As far as being 4-0, I'm trying to go 1-0 each and every week. We did that this week, but we've got another good team next week. (I’ll) celebrate this one, but as I said, it's a tough league, we know that.”

“I think that’s something that we've known as a team, but we have to continue to prove it. I'm not really too worried about what other people think. I think the guys in the locker room understand what we're doing, what we're capable of, and where we can take it.”

Even though it's just one loss for the Rams, Stafford knows that they must play better as a team to get back to their winning ways.

"This is a prove-it (sport), and you've got to go out there and do it every time," Stafford said. "I wasn't good enough at doing that today. I think as a team, we probably weren't good enough as far as going out in every single play and executing it."

Van Jefferson led the Rams in receptions with six catches for 90-yards, followed by Cooper Kupp's five catches for 64-yards and Robert Wood's four catches for 48-yards and one touchdown.

Murray completed 24 of his 32 passes for 268-yards and two touchdowns. Chase Edmonds carried the ball 12 times for the Cardinals for 120-yards and James Conner 18 times for 50-yards and two touchdowns.

A.J. Green led the Cardinals in receptions with five catches for 67-yards, and one touchdown, and Maxx Williams had five catches for 66-yards.

The Rams' (3-1) next game will be on Thursday, on the road against the Seattle Seahawks, and the Cardinals (4-0) will host the San Francisco 49ers