Rams secure 5th seed and redemption arc with win over Arizona

4 days ago 2

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — When Carl Cheffers blew his whistle to end the game, the high-pitched shrill sounded like victory. It sounded like mercy. It sounded like an opportunity for atonement.

The Los Angeles Rams walked off SoFi Stadium's turf Sunday having done more than secure the NFC's 5th seed with a 37-20 win over the Arizona Cardinals.

Arizona, a proud roster reduced to a skeleton crew of heart and sinew, fought the Rams to a standstill deep into a third quarter that reeked of apathy and error.

Then, the switch. The surge. The cascade of will. A 20-point run amounting to a 17-point victory, seizing the fifth seed, the clear, cold chance to atone for Charlotte's November sins and a merciful ending to the Cardinals' season.

In the NFL, mercy is a short-lived emotion and an even more complicated concept.

The Rams now turn their eyes toward the Panthers, toward a harsh November 30th humbling reminder, toward a game that felt like a theft rather than a loss.

Atonement awaits. Redemption beckons. The playoffs begin where the regular season's wounds remain freshest.

Now, working towards the opportunity to fulfill Los Angeles' Super Bowl goal––begins.

"I like where we're at right now," Sean McVay said. "Now we move forward, and what a great opportunity we've got to go to Carolina and see what the hell we can do."

Now is the time for the Rams to execute.

"It was what needed to happen," Matthew Stafford said. "Kind of put our minds to it."

The mind, all season, has belonged to Stafford.

The arm, the art, the audacity—it has all been his.

In Sunday's performance that carved his name above Dan Marino and Tom Brady on the all-time lists, Stafford completed 25 of 40 passes for 259 yards and four touchdowns. It was his fourth four-TD game this season, two more than any other quarterback.

He finished his MVP-caliber season leading the league with 4,707 passing yards and 46 touchdowns, the second-most in history by a quarterback at least 37 years old––passing Brady, trailing only Peyton Manning with 55.

With his 421st passing touchdown, Stafford ventured into rare air, passing Marino for seventh place on the NFL's all-time touchdown list.

Stafford's MVP chatter is not chatter; it is deserved and actual. Yet in the quiet of the post-game, Stafford brushed past personal plaudits.

His gaze is fixed forward, toward a specific plot of grass in Charlotte where his team's dreams of the #1 seed began to derail five weeks prior.

"Felt like I had a nice season," Stafford said. "I've got bigger fish to fry at the moment."

The biggest fish swims in Carolina waters.

But Stafford cannot fry it alone.

"We didn't play as well as we can last time we went there," Stafford said.

The signal caller's rocket arm was betrayed by his misaligned aim in a three-interception performance that saw the Rams lose the inside track to the top in a 31-28 loss.

The Rams' defense, a paradox of pressure and vulnerability, for all its statistical dominance Sunday, remains a riddle wrapped in an enigma and topped with a conundrum bow, and lies the most significant question mark facing the Rams as they venture into the playoffs.

They allowed Jacoby Brissett to complete 13 of 17 passes for 139 yards under duress. They were burned by a fake punt for 28 yards.

They let a depleted Cardinals offense, leaning heavily on the tandem of Michael Wilson and Trey McBride (who accounted for over 62% of Arizona's receiving yards in recent weeks), hang 20 points. The concern is genuine. The coverage must tighten.

Yes, they generated 24 pressures on 40 Cardinals dropbacks—a staggering 60% pressure rate, the sixth-highest by any defense this season.

Yes, they sacked Brissett six times while blitzing on just 10% of dropbacks, their lowest rate of the season and third-lowest since 2018.

Yes, Kobie Turner and Jared Verse each generated six pressures, with Verse adding a sack. Yes, Byron Young collected his 12th sack that will surely earn him a lucrative contract this offseason.

And yet.

The Cardinals, a team that had forgotten how to win, moved the ball with impunity.

Brissett completed 22 of 31 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns, thriving under pressure with a 76.5% completion rate—the highest of his career on at least 10 attempts against pressure.

Wilson caught five passes for 99 yards and a touchdown, including a 43-yard score where he got his get back on Ahkello Witherspoon, the Rams corner who had snatched an interception for him earlier on a jump ball.

The defense bends, breaks, then bends again. The Rams' defense has allowed 30-plus points in three of their last four games.

Since Week 13, Los Angeles ranks 27th in points allowed (30.0 per game) and yards surrendered (370.8 per game). Despite deploying dime personnel at the second-highest rate in the NFL since 2021, the Rams still surrender explosives like a dam with too many fissures.

If Los Angeles is to go on a Super Bowl run, starting by atoning for that November loss to Carolina, the team, particularly the defense, must coalesce in practice over the next week.

The pieces are there, returning from injury like soldiers back from leave.

Kevin Dotson, the offensive lineman, anchors the right side.

Davante Adams, the receiver who has been an absolute stud when healthy, is "a special player in this league for a long time," McVay said.

Quentin Lake, the safety whose presence stabilizes deep coverage.

Witherspoon, whose veteran savvy and ball skills—evidenced by his jump-ball theft from Wilson—provide clarity in a secondary that has too often looked confused.

"I like the depth of our football team," McVay said. "I do think we're getting healthy at the right time."

Now, the task is fusion. The marriage of this burgeoning pass rush to competent, cohesive coverage. The integration of returning pieces into a hungry, hardened whole.

The time for that fusion is now. One week. One chance to coalesce.

On Sunday, the defensive line got sacks from everyone except Turner, who instead pounced on a Josaiah Stewart forced fumble after Stewart sacked Brissett and made him cough up the ball.

And then there was Desjuan Johnson.

The seldom-used, relentless, defensive end, a rumor in pads, exploded from the shadows with a performance that reverberated from the bottom of the depth chart.

Two sacks. Five pressures. A constant, disruptive force, and he was not alone. Braden Fiske had a sack.

Although Turner was held sackless, he was busy terrorizing the Cardinals' interior.

The message is clear: the Rams' pass rush is peaking.

"Everybody's got to be locked in every single possession," Stafford said. "Especially on rotations and schemes."

The Rams' offense, meanwhile, continues to be a laboratory of innovation. They deployed 13 personnel (one running back, three tight ends) on 27.9% of plays this season by more than 10 percentage points.

Against Arizona, it was devastating: touchdowns to Colby Parkinson (who caught two) and Tyler Higbee, sustained drives and an imposed run game.

The tight ends combined for nine catches, 127 yards and three scores. Higbee, returning from a six-game absence, looked like a man reborn, catching five passes for 91 yards and a score.

"It was awesome to be able to have him back out there," McVay said. "A true glue guy for us."

Puka Nacua continues to redefine excellence. He caught 10 of 11 targets for 76 yards and a touchdown, moving past Randy Moss for the second-most receiving yards in a player's first three seasons.

The Rams have weapons. They have a quarterback playing at a level that forced McVay to declare, "I think Matthew's the MVP of the league."

They have a coach who understands the moment, who knows what competitive greatness.

Now they need their defense to become what their offense already is: complete.

Carolina awaits. The Panthers are not the same team that beat the Rams in November. The Rams are not the same team that lost to them.

"This team humbled us a handful of weeks ago," McVay said. "What a great challenge as a competitor. If this doesn't get you excited, then I don't know what the hell you're doing."

Dotson will likely push himself to play, providing the physical edge up front.

Adams might suit up after nursing a hamstring injury, giving Stafford another weapon who can affect the game.

Lake may return to action, bringing his steadying calm and communication, as he prowls and patrols in the secondary.

Witherspoon will be there, ready to snatch another 50/50 ball.

"It'll be a big challenge," Stafford said of the Panthers. "We didn't play as well as we can last time we went there."

This time, they must.

The Rams' season has been a story of almosts—almost beating Philadelphia, almost beating San Francisco, almost beating Seattle, almost beating Atlanta.

Almost doesn't exist in the playoffs. Almost is a synonym for eliminated.

The Rams have a chance at atonement. They have health returning, a defensive line rounding into form, a quarterback playing like an MVP and a coach who knows how to win.

They have everything they need—except the assurance that their defense can stop anyone when it matters.

The win over Arizona isn't a history lesson; it was algebra. The Rams needed to solve for X, and they did; X equals the fifth seed and an opportunity to atone for a November loss.

Sunday proved they can pressure quarterbacks. Next week, they must prove they can cover receivers, stop the run, and close games.

The performance against Arizona wasn't perfect; it never is. But it did reveal their path.

Pressure up front. Swarm to the ball. Force turnovers. Rely on Stafford's brilliance.

The Panthers will once again catch the Rams' ire and attention.

And Los Angeles, patched up and pissed off, has just one week to forge their scattered pieces into a single, pointed weapon.

For atonement, for advancement, for everything.

The blueprint is drawn. The payback awaits.

The Cardinals' misery is over. The Rams' redemption tour is just beginning.

Read Entire Article