Both teams were short-handed. Arizona played without Jeremiyah Love, Andrew Wingard, Wydett Williams Jr., Jerrick Reed II, Starling Thomas V and Andrew Billings. Budda Baker and Kitan Crawford both played through their injuries in a secondary down to its last few safeties. The Rams were missing Myles Garrett, suspended left tackle Alaric Jackson and Trent McDuffie, who was inactive with the groin injury. Then Blake Grupe, the kicker they signed after Buffalo blocked their overtime field goal, hurt his knee and was ruled out for the rest of the game.
The line score tells most of the story. The teams were tied 3-3 after 1 quarter and 9-9 at halftime. Arizona kicked off the second half with 3 points, and the Rams didn't score in the third quarter. That's the kind of game Arizona hasn't been able to play in a month. In each of its 4 losses, the defense lost control at some point and never got it back. On a clear afternoon that was 88 degrees at kickoff, it held the Rams to 1 scoring quarter after halftime.
The fourth quarter went back and forth. Arizona scored first to go up 15-9. The Rams answered with a 7-point quarter that put them ahead 16-15, so the team on a short week after an overtime loss was finally in front. Then Arizona came back with the last 3 points of the game and made them stand up. Four straight weeks the Cardinals were the team that folded late. This time it was the Rams who couldn't hold a lead.
The search for this recap didn't turn up individual stat lines, so the preview's headliners only get a team-level answer. Puka Nacua, Kyren Williams and the Stafford-to-Davante Adams connection were the reasons the Rams were favored, and together they produced 16 points against a secondary Arizona was patching with practice-squad and IR call-ups. On Arizona's side, Trey McBride, Tyler Allgeier filling in for Love, and the patched line in front of Brissett didn't need to win a shootout. They needed to keep putting points up every quarter. Arizona scored in all 4 quarters and never scored more than 6 in any of them.
Arizona is 2-4 now, and so are the Rams, who have lost 2 straight. That's a rough result for a Rams team that went 3-0 in the preseason and beat Philadelphia on the road. The preview pointed to the short week, Garrett being out and Jackson's suspension as the Rams' risks, and all 3 showed up in a quiet second half. Losing Grupe mid-game made it worse. Arizona's week is simpler. Brissett gets a win to point to while people keep asking for the rookie, and a defense that couldn't hold anyone for 4 weeks held a Stafford offense to 16.