https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2018/12/23/nfl-rams-cardinals-final-score-analysis/
Rams dominate Cardinals 31-9: Instant analysis of L.A.'s 12th win
By: Cameron DaSilva
With the pressure turned up slightly after a two-game losing streak, the Los Angeles Rams responded in a big way. They blew out the Cardinals 31-9 on Sunday at State Farm Stadium, moving to 12-3 on the year.
They got the job done with ease despite keeping Todd Gurley inactive as he recovers from a knee injury, largely thanks to some strong running by C.J. Anderson. He came in and racked up 167 yards on just 20 carries, scoring one touchdown in his Rams debut.
The defense stepped up, too, allowing only 263 total yards and nine points – six of which came on a long touchdown pass from Larry Fitzgerald to David Johnson. Granted, the Cardinals have the worst offense in the NFL, but giving up only nine points is still impressive and below Arizona’s season average.
Game balls
- C.J. Anderson: 20 carries, 167 yards, 1 TD
- Aaron Donald: 7 tackles, 3 sacks, 4 QBH, 4 TFL
- Robert Woods: 6 catches, 89 yards, 1 TD; 2 carries, 15 yards, 1 TD
Stat of the game
- 37:04 – The Rams held the ball for a large portion of this game, allowing the Cardinals to convert just 2 of 11 third-down tries.
Game notes
- Jared Goff wasn’t his best on Sunday, but he bounced back nicely after a fumble on the Rams’ opening drive. He finished with 216 yards on 19-for-24 passing with one touchdown and no interceptions. His footwork is still shaky as he continues to throw off his back foot instead of stepping into passes, but he did display better accuracy and was better with his decision-making.
- Anderson was an absolute stud, missing his single-game career-high by just 1 yard. The offensive line gave him plenty of help, but Anderson made defenders miss, was good in pass protection and broke several tackles.
- Donald was back to being his usual self. He once again stuffed the stat sheet with seven tackles and three sacks, while also adding four tackles for loss. He was all over Josh Rosen and simply could not be blocked by the Cardinals.
- The secondary didn’t make any spectacular plays but it locked down Arizona’s receivers. Only Trent Sherfield and Larry Fitzgerald had more than one catch for the Cardinals, while Arizona was held to just 150 yards passing, excluding Fitz’s 32-yard touchdown pass.
https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2018/12/24/nfl-rams-cardinals-week-16-studs-duds/
Studs and duds from Rams' lopsided win over Cardinals
By: Cameron DaSilva
Studs
C.J. Anderson
The Player of the Game for L.A. was Anderson, who came in off the street as a free agent on Tuesday and was dominant against the Cardinals. He rushed for 167 yards and a touchdown on only 20 carries, shredding Arizona’s porous run defense.
He did miss one block in pass protection after a miscommunication with Rob Havenstein, ultimately leading to a strip-sack, but he rebounded on the ground and in future pass blocks. His emergence has to make the coaching staff feel good about resting Todd Gurley.
Aaron Donald
After two quiet weeks with no sacks or tackles for loss, Donald bounced back with a huge performance. He had three sacks, four tackles for loss, four quarterback hits and seven total tackles. He broke two records on Sunday, too, surpassing Robert Quinn for the most sacks in a season in Rams history, while also posting the single-season sack record for a defensive tackle. When Donald is on his game, the Rams play at a much higher level. They’re now 17-0 in games when he has a sack since 2017.
Robert Woods
Woods has been Mr. Consistency for the Rams, continuing that trend against the Cardinals. He had six catches for 89 yards and a touchdown, while also finding the end zone on the ground for the first time in his career. Woods was effective as both a receiver and runner, catching six of the seven passes that came his way. he’s just the fourth player in NFL history with 14 straight games of 60 or more yards in a single season.
Ndamukong Suh
Suh had a half-sack and no tackles for loss from Week 6-15, struggling to do much of anything for the Rams against the run or pass. In Week 16, he finally got back on track with five tackles, one sack, two quarterback hits, a tackle for loss and two passes batted at the line. His sack wasn’t without the help of Donald and Michael Brockers, but it was still a strong performance, nonetheless.
Aqib Talib
Talib has provided a boost to the Rams secondary since he returned from IR. He made two tackles and batted two passes on Sunday in Arizona, providing good coverage on the left side of the defense. He played tight coverage on a deep pass down the sideline and broke up a pass over the middle, colliding with Lamarcus Joyner on the play. He didn’t have a great performance against the Eagles, but he looked good on Sunday.
Dud
John Sullivan
It’s hard to pick a dud in a 31-9 win, but Sullivan was susceptible to pressure up the middle. The Cardinals challenged him repeatedly with blitzes and interior rushes, and while he didn’t struggle as much as he did with Fletcher Cox last week, he wasn’t at his best against Arizona. Still, not a terrible performance.
https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2018/12/23/nfl-rams-cardinals-week-16-takeaways-analysis/
3 key takeaways from Rams' convincing win over Cardinals
By: Andrew Ortenberg
1. The Rams’ defense had its best game of the year
The Rams’ defense played its best game of the season, and all the players on the unit finally started to live up to their potential. Aaron Donald put himself firmly in the MVP conversation with three sacks and four tackles for loss, and set the NFL record for sacks in a single season by a defensive tackle (19.5).
Donald now needs three more sacks to tie Michael Strahan’s record for the most ever in a single season, and considering he had four the last time he played the 49ers, it’s highly possible he gets it done in Week 17.
The defense made Josh Rosen look like a high school quarterback most of the day, and it was an even more dominant effort than when they shut out the Cardinals back in Week 2. The only two scoring drives they gave up all day were a field goal because of the short field created by a Jared Goff fumble, and a trick-play touchdown.
Guys like Ndamukong Suh and Dante Fowler Jr. stepped up and made plays for seemingly the first time all season, and Aqib Talib played a great game. The Rams’ defense has been a sieve for the most part this season, so this was a great confidence-booster. If it can build on this performance next week against San Francisco, the defense will have a ton of momentum heading into the playoffs.
2. C.J. Anderson looked great
Todd who? All kidding aside, it was a great game from the Rams’ newly signed running back. Anderson looked comfortable right from the start, and hit the ground running. At halftime, he had already racked up 92 yards rushing and a touchdown. He ended up finishing with 167 yards on 20 carries with a touchdown, and was ripping off chunk gains all day.
A lot of it was surely due to poor run defense by the Cardinals, but it was very impressive, nonetheless. Anderson became the first Ram who wasn’t Todd Gurley to run for over 100 yards since Tre Mason did all the way back in 2014. With Malcolm Brown gone and Justin Davis banged up, the Rams desperately needed some help behind Gurley.
Anderson is very capable in pass protection, an area where Brown excelled, and the Rams can now comfortably take it very easy on Gurley in Week 17, if he plays at all. It was a shrewd move of Les Snead and the coaching staff to bring him in, and he’ll be a great asset the rest of the way.
3. The Rams were a bit undisciplined at times
While it was nice to get the massive win, there is still a lot to clean up with the playoffs just a couple of weeks away. Samson Ebukam had a roughing the passer penalty, and the Rams got fooled by the aforementioned Larry Fitzgerald pass on a trick play by not reacting quickly enough.
Jared Goff started off the game carrying over his sloppiness with the ball from the past few weeks, fumbling on the Rams’ opening possession. All told, they finished with 66 penalty yards, which would’ve been felt way more against a better team.
Goff was much better than he’s been the past three weeks, but his footwork and mechanics still broke down at times. It might seem like nitpicking, but the Rams still have a lot of work to do and Sean McVay would probably be the first person to say so.
