http://www.revengeofthebirds.com/20...t-louis-rams-theres-history-between-two-teams
Arizona Cardinals vs. St. Louis Rams: Two teams with something in common
By BigRedBilly
How far back can we trace the history between the
Cardinals and the
Rams? All the way to October 3, 1937, when the
Chicago Cardinals defeated the
Cleveland Rams 6-0 in a real thriller at League Park in Ohio. The Big Red went on to win the first four games of the all-time series that now finds the Cardinals leading
36-35(with two memorable ties).
Of course the Rams and the Cardinals have something in common that first became possible when
Violet Bidwill moved the world's oldest professional football franchise that became the
St. Louis Football Cardinals in 1960. Soon after, future Cardinals president
Michael Bidwill was born under the Gateway to the West (well, not literally).
There have been numerous versions of Cardinals/Rams over the the years and both teams have played as home teams in the shadow of the St. Louis Arch (where the
Greatest Cardinal Ever played).
The simple way to show the history between the teams would be a list with the Cardinals' won-loss records (or for a complete game-by-game breakdown,
click here).
Chicago Cardinals vs. Cleveland Rams (1937-1945) (7-7)
Chicago Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Rams (1946-1958) (5-5-2)
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Rams (1960-1987) (3-10)
Phoenix Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Rams (1988-1993) (4-1)
Arizona Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Rams (1994) (0-1)
Arizona Cardinals vs. St. Louis Rams (1996-Present) (17-11)
Many variations on the same theme which also includes this
footage from a preseason contest using an experimental white
football for night games— complete with up-close and personal photographers' flashes!
The teams have met once in the postseason (a game we're not going to talk about), and although no championships came through the city of St. Louis for the Cardinals, the team gave many fans a thrill.
Over a three year span ('74-'76), the
Big Red went 31-11 while establishing a trend that showed itself once again ...
... on an overcast day at the L.A. Colosseum in 1976, when true to their name, the
Cardiac Cardinals who trailed 21-6 in the second half, methodically went about their business (as if it was scripted) to claim the 30-28 victory with a
Jim Bakken field goal at the gun over the
Los Angeles Rams.
This game also saw
Merlin Olsen (Father Murphy) walk into the Cardinals huddle, wave his finger and say bad things to
Conrad Dobler, then walk off the field never to return. Why do I remember this Cardinals/Rams game? I was there.
Connections
Three Hall of Fame inductees played for both teams in the past —
Dick 'Night Train' Lane,
Ollie Matson and
Aeneas Williams. Another former great expected to join that list would be
Kurt Warner.
Other players that donned both Cardinals and Rams uniforms include
Ernie Jones,
Eric Hill,
Kwamie Lassiter,
Corey Chavous and
Chris Chandler, while local favorite
Ron Wolfley is the only NFL player to have ever played for both the St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Rams.
Great moments
•Only two years removed from their
1947 world championship team, the Chicago Cardinals overcome a 21 point deficit against the Rams in Los Angeles behind the rushing of
Charley Trippi and 3 picks from Jerry Davis to prevail 31-27 in December 1949.
•Busch Stadium in December 1972 was where
Jim Hart (the Card's all-time leading passer) tied the longest pass play in franchise history with a 98-yard strike to
Ahmad Rashad (then known as Bobby Moore) in the 24-14 victory over the Rams. This play remains the longest non-scoring pass play in the history of the NFL and a record that will never be broken.
• In the first season as the
Phoenix Cardinals (1988),
Neil Lomax passes for 342 yards as the Big Red rack up 519 total yards against the L. A. Rams. Touchdown receptions by
Roy 'Jet Stream' Green and
Jay Novacek, in addition to TD runs by
Earl Ferrell and
Stump Mitchell add up to a 41-28 victory and Lomax is named NFL Offensive Player of the Week.
• Ronald Moore rushes for 126 yards and 4 touchdowns in the team's last season known as the Phoenix Cardinals and becomes the Offensive Player of the Week.
Steve Beuerlein also adds a touchdown pass to
Gary Clark(8 catches for 159 yards) in the 38-10 victory at Sun Devil Stadium in '93.
• Kent Graham passes for 366 yards in the
Arizona Cardinals come-from-behind overtime 31-28 victory in Tempe in 1996 over the
St. Louis Rams. A whopping 13 of Graham's 37 completions went to
Larry Centers for 83 yards and a touchdown. Other Cardinals scored that day by the names of
Rob Moore (9 catches, 143 yards),
Leshon Johnson and
Frank Sanders.
• In the first quarter of the season opener of his rookie year (2013),
Tyrann Mathieu comes from nowhere to knock the ball loose from TE Jared Cook just as he's about to cross the goal line in St. Louis. This game is also notable for when
Bruce Arians first came to realize that
Levi Brown wasn't so elite after all.
• Carson Palmer completes 27 of 32 passes (84.4%) for 269 yards and a touchdown in 2013 in Glendale. The 84.4 completion percentage was the second-best single-game completion percentage in franchise history (only Kurt Warner's NFL-record of 92.3% in '09 ranks higher).
John Abraham records three sacks as the Cardinals win 30-10.
Looking Ahead
Since the teams became division opponents in 2002, the Cardinals hold a 15-11 advantage and are currently riding a 3 game winning streak over the Rams. The Cardinals in a homecoming of sorts in St. Louis, prevailed in a battle of field goals 12-6 last December when the teams last met.
Odds are the score will be much higher this Sunday especially if
Larry Fitzgerald has anything to do with it. Fitz's 138 career receptions, 1,631 yards receiving and 16 touchdowns against the Rams are more than any active player against an individual opponent.
It's almost time to snap on the chin-straps again for a Cardinals/Rams game and you know what that means ...
Bad News for the Rams!
For those interested in a listing of how (and when) the 32 current NFL teams came to be, visit
NFL Team History.
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Everybody is hyping up the Rams DL but it's the CARDS OL that will dominate in the trenches.
The Rams have the exact same DL that through the first 5 games last year (MIN, TB, DAL, PHI, SF) only recorded
1 sack. Even in the last meeting with the Cards they only recorded 1 sack. Cards beat them both times with Stanton and Lindley and the 31st ranked run game.
The Rams feasted on a horrific SEA OL for 6 sacks and an injury laden Pitt OL for another 5 sacks. Only recorded 2 sacks against
that power house OL of the Redskins Their defense has allowed 122 yds rushing and another 325 yds passing per game. The Rams offense is completely inept.
With a healthy Palmer & OL, stout run game and ball hawing D, I wouldn’t be surprise if the Cards put up a 50 burger on the lambs.
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I'm guessing 24 at best
Thinking this is going to be the ugliest offensive game by the Cards so far this year. Rams will get pressure with 4-5 defenders, jump Fitz’s routes, and force the Cards’ running game / deep ball to beat them. Carson can’t throw a good deep ball while fading backwards, and the running game is still young. I’m thinking its a close Cards win, 17-10. I’ll repost and fess up if I blow this one.
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Rams front four is good
But Cards can run the ball fairly well and Arians and Carson and Co. have made their money winning games by throwing it deep and often. Those may be the keys to the game for the Rams, but they’re also Arizona strengths.
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Should be a fun game to watch, especially with Rams strength (Pass Rush) going against Cards’ strength (deep ball). Don’t sleep on ARI D/ST though, they have quite a few TDs through the first three games and a big key to neutralizing the Rams Defense could be ARI getting jumpstarted and taking a lead with D and ST touchdowns and field position.
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Deep throws
A QB and WR need time for deep throws. I hope you’re right and we can stretch the field. If so, we’ll be fine.
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I also think it'll be closer than most are saying
Even when there’s a big talent discrepancy, division games are normally close.
Rams always play the Cards, 49ers, and Seahawks very tough.
That DL is serious, and there’s at least a capable QB this year.
I think that score prediction would be good if this was being played in STL where the Rams play much tougher.
I see this game as something like 20 – 10 or 24 – 10, where it’s close thru 3 qtrs and the Cards pull away in the 4th.
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dont know about everyone else
but the confident word has been used alot this week. Not just by us fans but players as well. The "confidence" often leads to complacency. Coming off two large wins, hope they keep things in check. As for injury from other team…lets go out there with a chip on our shoulder and play like we will not let it happen again. We wont be intimidated.
And by all measure, we will not allow the Rams or any team for that matter, keep us from our goal of keeping not only the QB but any Cardinal safe and going to the big show. My tag line speaks my sentiment for the season.
2015 Cardinals- "Now It's personal"
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As Palmer said on wednesday
They are confident because they are good (as they should be), but he doesn’t believe that it is a false confidence or cockiness. Cockiness is what will cause complacency and I just don’t believe this coaching staff or the vets are going to let it get to that.
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You remember last week's half-time speech?
I don’t think BA likes Jeff Fisher, nor the Rams.
I also think he’s still pissed about the talking heads last year at the end of the season as well.
Frostee brought it up this week and I think they all remember it. BA’s got a chip on his shoulder. You think he’s gonna let the guys go easy??
And Big Red thanks for the great, lengthy write up, and that video.
Was crazy, have never seen a white football like that Chicago Cards vs. LA Rams game.
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