Negative Plays Lead to Cardinals' Third Straight Home Loss
GLENDALE — It is often said that four or five plays will decide a game in the NFL, and that was surely the case Monday on a strange night at State Farm Stadium.
The Cardinals lost to the Rams 30-23 and instead of clinching a spot in the playoffs and leaving the Rams three games behind in the division, Arizona is only one game ahead in the NFC West with four to play.
The game started as if the Cardinals might jump out to a two-score lead. They went ahead 3-0 on the first of two Matt Prater 53-yard field goals, and then got the Rams off the field on a three-and-out.
Quarterback Kyler Murray guided the Cardinals from their own 33-yard line to the opposing 5, thanks to the second spectacular one-handed reception by James Conner for 18 yards.
However, on second-and-goal from the 4, Murray was aiming for tight end Zach Ertz when his pass was tipped by defensive tackle Aaron Donald and intercepted by linebacker Ernest Jones. Donald had five tackles with three for loss, three sacks for 35 yards in losses and three quarterback hits Monday night.
Murray said afterward, without the deflection, it would have been a touchdown. He added, “Great play. He (Donald) is one of the best players in the league. Got his hands on it; interception.”
The Rams then drove down the field, took a 7-3 lead and the complexion of the game changed.
The game was tied at 13 after two quarters, but the Rams took a quick 20-13 lead on a 52-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Matthew Stafford to wide receiver Van Jefferson, son of Cardinals receivers coach Shawn Jefferson.
That play came immediately following a questionable unnecessary roughness penalty on linebacker Isaiah Simmons that gave the Rams a first down.
On the Cardinals’ second play after the score, Murray was intercepted again, this time by linebacker Leonard Floyd, who returned the pick to the 19-yard line.
On second-and-goal from the 6, Stafford made the most heads-up play of the night.
Hit as he was trying to throw at the 15-yard line, the ball came loose, and bounced forward with no signal by an official that it was an incomplete pass. But only Stafford chased it down, as no Cardinals made an effort to go after the ball.
The play was ruled a fumble, the Rams retained possession at the 8-yard line and two plays later, they had a 27-13 lead.
Head coach Kliff Kingsbury said, “I thought it was an incomplete pass. I'm not sure if they reviewed it, if it wouldn't have been looked at as hand coming forward. But we got to have some awareness in that situation. Just get on the ball. Don't leave it to chance for sure.”
That’s exactly what Stafford did. He said he didn’t know what it would be ruled and explained postgame, “I didn’t want to leave it to chance. I’ve seen a number of plays like that go the other way.”
The Rams fought back, but any chance of a comeback effectively ended with a holding call after an onside kick recovery. Murray ran to the 37-yard line with 26 seconds remaining, but left guard Sean Harlow was flagged.
Murray refused to be discouraged by the loss even though it evened the team’s home record at 3-3. In those six games, the Cardinals are minus-7 in turnover ratio and Murray has seven of his nine interceptions at home. On the road, the Cardinals are plus-17 and haven’t had a turnover in their last five games.
Kingsbury even joked (we think) that the team might as well continue losing so it can play any postseason games on the road.
Murray said, “I think we executed at a pretty high rate tonight. I'm proud of the way the guys fought. Everybody wanted to win, but I'm not discouraged by what happened.”
Kingsbury had tremendous praise for Murray.
He said, “It's the most proud I've been of him since I've been here as far as his effort. I thought he battled; he played his ass off the entire game. A couple of those throws he was going to the right spot. I thought he fought and created and did everything he could to keep us in that game. And it was adverse conditions. That defensive line is tremendous. And I just was really proud of the way he battled.”
