The Los Angeles Rams hosted the division-rival Arizona Cardinals in Week 17 needing a win to clinch a postseason berth, and that’s exactly what they got.
Unfortunately for the Rams, they came into the game severely short-handed missing key players such as quarterback Jared Goff, wide receiver Cooper Kupp, running back Darrell Henderson and defensive lineman Michael Brockers.
That didn’t end up mattering though as the backups filled in admirably, resulting in an 18-7 win to finish 10-6 as the sixth seed in the NFC.
Now, it’s worth mentioning that the Cardinals were short-handed as well, particularly on the offensive side of the ball where they were without receivers Christian Kirk and Larry Fitzgerald, and star quarterback Kyler Murray also went down early with a leg injury that forced him to miss most of the game.
The result was a dominant performance by the Rams defense, who scored nine points of their own while only allowing seven in the win. Here are my weekly observations and analysis from the victory:
Wolford was good enough
Let me start with Goff’s backup, John Wolford, because no one knew what to expect from him going into his first career NFL start. The coaching staff and players talked Wolford up pretty big, so I was a little optimistic that he would be legit, but at the end of the day, no one really knew.
And things didn’t get off to a good start either as Wolford threw a bad interception on his first pass, giving the Cardinals a short field to score their only seven points of the day.
Luckily, Wolford was able to settle in from there and actually made some nice plays with both his arm and legs. He finished 22-of-38 for 231 yards, also rushing six times for 56 yards in the win.
Sure, he made some poor throws, and sure, the Rams struggled to punch the ball into the end zone, only settling for three field goals on the day. But what Wolford did do well was he was able to control the clock (Rams won time of possessions 37:53 to 22:07) by converting 6-of-15 third-down plays, mainly with his legs.
It is still up in the air if Goff will be able to return for the postseason opener next week, but if he doesn’t, it is good to see that Wolford is at least able to make some plays to keep the Rams in a game. The added layer of a quarterback that can run also gives L.A.’s offense a dimension that it simply did not have with Goff, which makes it harder for a defense to prepare.
Rams defense finishes as best in league
While Wolford was the main story in his first career game, it was actually the Rams’ defense that carried them in this game, as has been the case all season.
After giving up the touchdown on a short field to begin the game, the Rams defense was absolutely dominant for the rest of the day. Cam Akers had a bad fumble on the Rams’ goal line, although it didn’t prove costly as the defense quickly got a safety a couple of plays later.
Then late in the first half, Troy Hill came up with an 83-yard pick-six to give the Rams their first lead of the game, which they would never surrender. It wasn’t until Murray came back into the game in the fourth quarter that Arizona even crossed midfield, although even that drive ended with a blocked field goal by A’Shawn Robinson.
Under first-year defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, the Rams finished 2020 as the best defense in football, allowing a league-best 16.8 points per game. There is still work to be done, of course, but no enough can be said about the performance of L.A.’s defense this season.
Ramsey shuts down another top receiver
On Sunday, the Rams’ dominant defensive performance started with Jalen Ramsey, who shut down yet another top receiver in the league in DeAndre Hopkins.
Hopkins finished the game with just four catches for 35 yards, and a couple of those even cam in garbage time once everything had been decided.
Normally, teams just choose not to throw Ramsey’s way. With a backup quarterback in for most of the day though, he tried to force-feed Hopkins, and the result was not pretty.
Ramsey finished the day with five tackles and a season-high four passes defensed, proving yet again that he is the best shutdown corner in the league. Ramsey’s first full season with the Rams was a great one as not only was he named to the Pro Bowl, but he also likely will be named an All-Pro and could even get some love for NFL Defensive Player of the Year. To this point, he has been worth every penny and hopefully that will remain the case when he squares off with DK Metcalf for a third time next week.
McVay and Kingsbury is a huge coaching mismatch
With both teams forced to go to backup quarterbacks, it became clear which team was prepared and which wasn’t. Sean McVay had some brilliant play designs to get Wolford in space, allowing him to use his legs to pick up first down.
On the other side, Kliff Kingsbury looked like he had no clue who Chris Streveler even was or what he was good at, which in his defense, wasn’t much. There was no point in the game where I was worried Streveler would work the Cardinals down the field, and even after a number of three-and-outs, Kingsbury didn’t really make any changes or adjustments to try and find success.
McVay is now 4-0 against the Cardinals since Kingsbury took over, and 8-0 overall against them in his career. Absolute dominance.
Up next…
Alright, now is when things start to get interesting. Even though it took longer than it should’ve, the Rams finally clinched a playoff spot with the win over the Cardinals and now travel to take on the Seattle Seahawks once again next Saturday in the Wild Card round.
These teams are obviously very familiar with each other having split their first two meetings. They are very evenly-matched, both having defenses that are playing like two of the best in football in recent weeks while also possessing balanced offenses with stars on the outside.
It remains to be seen if Goff will be able to return and play or if his thumb needs another week to heal. That would mean that Wolford would make another start, which could honestly be a good thing considering the Goff-led offense struggled greatly in Seattle one week ago.
Regardless, there is no more losing from here on out if the Rams want to get back to the Super Bowl, so McVay and L.A. will have to beat a tough Seahawks team to keep those hopes alive.
