Ryland ends it at the buzzer
Thirteen and a half points. That was the cushion the Rams carried into Sunday’s game against Arizona, and the Cardinals took all of it back. Chad Ryland drilled a 43-yard field goal as time expired to give Arizona an 18-16 win, the largest upset of the NFL season so far according to CBS Sports.
It also ties for the biggest upset of any game in the past five years, and it is the largest upset loss of Matthew Stafford’s career. Both teams sit at 2-4 now, a strange place for a Rams side that opened the year as a Super Bowl favorite. Arizona had not won since its season opener.
The kick came courtesy of a gift. A 15-yard unnecessary roughness flag on Josh Wallace moved the ball into Ryland’s range, and he did the rest.
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A win built entirely on field goals
The Cardinals never found the end zone. They scored on six of their 10 drives, and every one of those scores was a field goal. What they did do was keep the ball: Arizona held nearly 10 more minutes of possession than Los Angeles and piled up 338 yards. Jacoby Brissett threw an interception on the opening possession, then took no sacks and turned the ball over zero more times.
The defense deserves its share too. One week earlier it had given up 45 points to Detroit. Against the Rams it held Stafford to 18-of-26 for 137 yards, 4.2 yards per attempt, before the quarterback padded his line late.
That final line reads 25-of-33 for 222 yards and two touchdowns, with no picks. Most of it came on the closing drive, which produced the only two 20-yard plays of the afternoon. A 5-yard Stafford pass to Colby Parkinson with 47 seconds left cut it to two, but Los Angeles had no answer after that.
Mistakes and a third close loss
The Rams did plenty to hurt themselves. Stafford fumbled without being touched, Tyler Higbee lost one too, and a fourth-and-1 run by Davis Allen was stuffed. A fourth-and-8 screen to a running back ended in a turnover on downs. Byron Young was offside on a third-and-1 and Warren McClendon jumped on a fourth-and-3.
The defense produced just one takeaway, that first-drive interception, and no sacks. Los Angeles has only eight sacks all season, tied for third-fewest in the league coming in.
Special teams hurt again. Blake Grupe hit a 44-yarder in the first quarter, then Devin Duvernay returned the next kickoff 40 yards, and Grupe left injured after making the tackle. He was listed as doubtful to return. All three Rams losses this year have come by two, three and four points, with special teams a factor each time.
Offensive lineman Paris Johnson Jr. and running back Jeremiyah Love were both out. At 2-4, the Rams now have real ground to make up.
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