Cardinals' lopsided loss to the Rams is more proof that Arizona's rebuild won't be easy

Updated Nov. 27, 2023 6:20 p.m. ET

Associated Press

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — The fact the Arizona Cardinals lost another football game on Sunday isn't particularly surprising.

The unexpected part was just how bad they looked.

There wasn't much good to say for the Cardinals after they were thumped in their home stadium by the Los Angeles Rams 37-14. Arizona (2-10) briefly took an 8-7 lead in the first quarter before surrendering 30 straight points to a Rams team that came in with a 4-6 record.

It was an eye-opener for the Cardinals. And not in a good way.

“Felt like we didn’t match their level of effort and enthusiasm throughout the game,” first-year coach Jonathan Gannon said Sunday. “That falls solely on me. When you get beat like that, we have to take a good, hard look at how we’re setting up the week because it really wasn’t competitive in my mind.”

The Rams outgained the Cardinals 457 yards to 292 in a game that was arguably even more lopsided than the final score indicates. Los Angeles had total control after the first quarter, dominating Arizona on both sides of the football.

Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray didn’t have his best game Sunday, completing 27 of 45 passes for 256 yards and one touchdown. A decent chunk of those stats were amassed on the final drive when the game was long decided.

It was Murray's third game since his return from an ACL injury that kept him on the sidelines for 11 months.

The quarterback — who's still adjusting to a new coaching staff and new offensive scheme — said he wasn't going to get discouraged, even if all the losing isn't much fun.

"I’m staying positive," Murray said. "This is my third game and seventh week of practice. There’s obviously growing pains with this. Like I said, it’s my third game (in) a new scheme, a new everything for me, so I’m not discouraged at all by it.

"I know we’ll be better because of it, but these are some of the things that we’ve got to go through as part of it.”

WHAT’S WORKING

Murray's return from a serious knee injury has been relatively encouraging, even though the Cardinals are 1-2 in the three games he has played. The 26-year-old basically looks like the quarterback he was before the injury, which is good news considering he signed a $230.5 million deal before the 2022 season.

Gannon said the lack of efficiency Sunday was because the Cardinals became one-dimensional once they fell into a big first-half hole.

“It’s a tough way to go,” Gannon said. “We have to make sure that we put pressure on the defense and stay in the game a little bit better. That opens up play-calling, it opens up playmaking, it opens up runs and passes and all that stuff. We just never got to any of it because we’re down and didn’t have a lot of plays and a lot of possessions there in the first half where we got things rolling.”

WHAT NEEDS HELP

Rams running back Kyren Williams had another huge day against the Cardinals, running for 143 yards and catching two touchdown passes. Los Angeles piled up 228 yards rushing on Sunday, which allowed them to have complete control of the game.

“They don’t do those play-action passes and stuff like that without doing a good job in the run game," safety Budda Baker said. "That was the emphasis this week, stopping the run, and we just didn’t do that.”

STOCK UP

Safety Jalen Thompson has had interceptions in back-to-back games. Against the Rams, he picked off Matthew Stafford late in the second quarter to give the Cardinals a chance to score right before halftime.

STOCK DOWN

Running back James Conner had a quiet afternoon with a season-low 27 yards rushing. Conner is a great weapon for the Cardinals, but it's hard to use him effectively when fighting from behind most games.

INJURIES

CB Starling Thomas V (ankle) was hurt in the second half and didn't return. ... WR Michael Wilson (shoulder) was on the inactive list Sunday, but Gannon said “he's trending the right way. We'll see how it goes.”

KEY NUMBER

2014 — That's the last season the Cardinals beat the Rams on their home field. Los Angeles has won nine straight games at State Farm Stadium.

NEXT STEPS

The Cardinals have one more game on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers before a long-awaited off week that could help recharge the team before the season's final four games.

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