It looks like ages in the past. Week 2 of the NFL season was in September however for the Rams, the reminiscence stays recent.
A 41-10 rout by the Arizona Cardinals made it so.
“An ass whuppin’,” defensive lineman Bobby Brown III mentioned this week.
“Embarrassing,” defensive coordinator Chris Shula mentioned.
In all phases.
“We got our butt kicked,” offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur mentioned.
The loss dropped the Rams’ report to 0-2 en path to a 1-4 begin that had coach Sean McVay’s group getting ready to potential playoff oblivion.
Then the Rams received eight of 10 video games, together with their final 4, to place themselves for one more division title.
Their high division rivals, the Seattle Seahawks, beat the Chicago Bears 6-3 on Thursday evening to enhance to 9-7, so the Rams can clinch the title with a win Saturday over the Cardinals at SoFi Stadium and a “strength of victory” tiebreaker.
The Rams would declare that if 4 of those six groups, all taking part in residence video games, win in Week 17 — the Cleveland Browns (vs. Miami Dolphins), Cincinnati Bengals (vs. Denver Broncos), Washington Commanders (vs. Atlanta Falcons), San Francisco 49ers (vs. Detroit Lions ), Buffalo Payments (vs. New York Jets) and Minnesota Vikings (vs. Inexperienced Bay Packers).
Linebacker Dennis Gardeck (45) information one in every of 5 Cardinals sacks of Matthew Stafford (9) throughout a 41-10 Rams loss in September.
(Rick Scuteri / Related Press)
Defensive lineman Kobie Turner mentioned the implications of Saturday’s sport “don’t go unnoticed.” Nonetheless, at its core, the matchup towards the Cardinals is a “get-back” sport.
“We have a lot that we’re fighting for,” Turner mentioned. “But we’re really strong on the get-back, and getting a little revenge game in.”
How motivated the Cardinals (7-8) will likely be stays to be seen. A loss final week ended their playoff hopes.
“They’re not necessarily playing for anything,” Rams security Quentin Lake mentioned. “And to be honest, those teams can be very, very dangerous.”
So the Rams intend to do what the Cardinals did to them: begin quick and by no means let up.
On that Sunday at State Farm Stadium, the Rams got here up quick on a fourth-and-two move play, and Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray shortly took benefit by tossing a 23-yard landing move to rookie receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.
Cardinals receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. (18) stretches for a landing after making a catch towards the Rams in September. He had landing catches of 23 and 60 yards within the first quarter.
(Rick Scuteri / Related Press)
The Rams went three and out, and Murray and Harrison linked for a 63-yard landing.
“It was 14-0 in like the blink of an eye,” Lake mentioned.
The Cardinals added one other landing to go forward 21-0 early within the second quarter.
“They sung the national anthem,” cornerback Cobie Durant mentioned, “and the game was over.”
The Rams have turn out to be a a lot totally different group than the one which began the season so poorly. After dropping 4 of their first 5 video games, the Rams’ solely subsequent losses have come towards the Dolphins and the Philadelphia Eagles.
The 37-20 beatdown by the Eagles on Nov. 24 on “Sunday Night Football” left the Rams at 5-6. A couple of days later, McVay addressed his gamers and wrote “39” on a whiteboard, the variety of days left within the common season. He challenged them to decide to getting probably the most out of every one.
“That’s something that’ll get your attention real quick,” quarterback Matthew Stafford mentioned. “You go, ‘Hey, I can commit for that long. No doubt.’”
Mentioned rookie edge rusher Jared Verse: “He said, ‘We don’t have to win every game. We have to win every one of these days.’”
The Rams haven’t misplaced since, defeating the New Orleans Saints, Payments, 49ers and Jets.
“We’ve had great buy-in from our team since that point,” Stafford mentioned. “I don’t see that wavering or changing at any point.”
Now they get a possibility to avenge their loss to the Cardinals.
In that matchup, receiver Puka Nacua and offensive linemen Steve Avila and Joe Noteboom have been out due to accidents suffered within the season-opening loss to the Lions, then the Rams misplaced receiver Cooper Kupp, lineman Jonah Jackson and security John Johnson III to accidents too.
The Rams are again to close full energy as they intention to finish their push to the playoffs.
“It’s really easy in those times when things aren’t going well to start pointing fingers and feel like you’re on your own,” Kupp mentioned. “ We’ve done a good job being able to weather those storms and get to this place here.”
McVay recalled the primary sport towards the Cardinals as a “humbling” expertise. Now they’re on the verge of taking part in within the postseason for the sixth time in McVay’s eight seasons.
“These guys have just been in the moment,” McVay mentioned. “You’re not naive to what’s possibly at stake, but I think our guys have played their best football and they’ve just focused on … ‘Hey, let’s go cut it loose.’”
