Setting the Stage
Rams lost to the Seahawks and are 9 & 6 going into their final regular season game. Cards lost to a battered 49'ers squad and may have tanked themselves right our of the playoffs. They come into LA with a 8 & 7 record. We're not sure what it would take for the Cardinals to reach the playoffs, but suspect it may have everything to do with the outcome of this second Cards @ Rams game.
Most Recent Ram Game
They lost to the Seahawks 9 - 20 in a see-saw battle of NFC heavyweights. The two teams traded FG's in the 1st nd early-2nd quarters and were tied 6 - 6 at halftime. Seattle then tacked on a TD on a Russell Wilson TD run and held LA to a 33 Matt Guy FG and iced the game with a 13-yd Wilson to Hollister TD pass to win it 20 - 9
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
LA 8:43 FG Matt Gay 44 Rams 3 - Sea 0
2nd Quarter
Sea 2:17 FG Jason Myers 45 - Rams 3 - Sea 3
LA 5:27 FG Matt Gay 51 Rams 6 - Sea 3
Sea 13:56 FG Jason Myers 49 Rams 6 - Sea 6
3rd Quarter
Sea 4:28 Russell Wilson 4 run (Jason Myers Kick) 6 Rams 6 - Sea 13
4th Quarter
LA 2:11 FG Matt Gay 33 9 13 Rams 9 - Sea 13
Sea 12:09 Jacob Hollister 13 pass from Russell Wilson (Jason Myers Kick) Rams 9 - Sea 20
Final Score: Seattle 20 - Rams 9
LA - Seahawks Game Stats
...............................................................LA...............Sea
Total First Downs .................................20...............15
Rushing ..................................................4 .....'..........5
Passing ................................................15 ................10
Penalty ...................................................1.... ...........0
Total Net Yards ...................................334..............292
Net Yards Rushing ..............................118.............,.95
Total Rushes .........................................29........... ..24
Net Yards Passing ..............................216 ...........197
Sacked/Yards Lost ............................3-18............5-28
Gross Passing Yards ..........................234.............225
Att./Completions .............................43-24-1 .......32-20-0.
Completion Pct................................. 67.2.............. 63.4
Had Intercepted .................................1 ...................0
Punts/Average ................................5-42.2..........5-48.6
Penalties-Yards.............................. 5-45................5-31
Fumbles-Lost ...................................1-0.................0-0
Time of Possesion............................32:50...........27:10
"Unofficial" Depth Chart
Ram Offense
Quarterbacks
QB ...09 Wolford, 16 Goff (inj)
Running Backs
RB...34 M Brown....23 Akers (inj)....27 Henderson Jr...35 X Jones
Wide Receivers
WR... 10 Kupp (inj) ....14 Webster
WR...11 Reynolds...12 V Jefferson
WR...17 Woods....83 T Jackson
Tight Ends
TE...89 Higbee...81 Everett...82 Mundt...88 B Hopkins
Offensive Line
LT...70 Noteboom...72 Ancrum Jr.
LG...73 Edwards
OC...66 Blythe
RG...63 Corbett...65 Shelton
RT...79 Havenstein....71 Evans
Ram Defense
Defensive Line
DE....90 Brockers...97 Fox
NT ...69 Joseph-Day....91 Gaines
DT....99 Donald......94 Robinson
Linebackers
OLB...50 Ebukam...52 T Lewis...57 Patrick
OLB...54 Floyd.......45 Okoronko (IR)...49 Rivers
ILB......51 Reeder...58 Hollins.
ILB...41 K Young
Secondary
LCB...22 Hill...31 D Williams
RCB...20 Ramsay...25 Long Jr...36 Reed
SS....24 Rapp (IR) ...46 Hughes...32 Fuller
FS...43 J Johnson III..33 N Scott
Special Teams
P......06 Hecker
K.......01 Gay
LS...44 McQuaide
H .....06 Hekker
PR ...14 Webster
KR ...14 Webster
Player Stats - Last Game
Passing
Murray 31 of 50 for 247 yds....0 TDs...1 Ints...Sacked 3 Times...66.0 Rating
Goff - 24 of 43... 234 yds... 0 TDs...1 Int...3 sacks...61.6 Rat
Rushing
Drake 18 for 45 yds 2.5 YPA 1 TD
Murray 8 for 75...9.4 YPA...0 TDs
Henderson 12 for 62...YPA 5.2 ...TDs 0
Brown 7 for 27...YPA 3.9...0 TDs
Akers - NA
Receiving
Hopkins 8 of 12 for 48 yds..., 0 TDs
Fitzgerald 6 of 8 for 28 yds ... 0 TD
Edmonds 2 of 3 for 8 yds...0 TDs
Kirk 7 of 10 for 76 yds... 0 TDs
Kupp 8 of 9 for 66 yds 0 TDs...15 YAC
Woods 4 of 9 for 48 yds 0 TD...6 YAC
Reynolds 6 of 10 for 65 yds 0 TDs...27 YAC
Higbee 3 of 6 for 34 yds 0 TDs...18 YAC
Tackles -
Hicks 6
Baker 9
Murphy 5
Banjo 5
Campbell 5
Reeder 11
Fuller 7
Floyd 7
Williams 6
J Johnson 6
Sacks
Reddick 1.5
Golden, Kennard, Blackson
Baker...Blackson...Phillips...Kennard 1.5 apiece
Joseph, Donald, Gaines - 1 apiece
Interceptions
P Peterson, Kirkpatrick 3 apiece
None
Cardinals Depth Chart
Quarterbacks
01 Murray, 15 Streveler, 07 Hundley
Running Back
41 Drake, 29 Edmonds, 38 Ward 37 Foster...26 Benjamin
Wide Receivers
WR - 11 Fitzgerald...17 Isabella
WR - 13 Kirk....19 KS Johnson
WR - 10 Hopkins 16 Sherfield
Tight Ends
TE - 87 William 82 Arnold 81 Daniels...86 DeValve
Offensive Line
LT- ...74 Humphries ....79 J Jones...66 Miles
LG - 67 Pugh 73 Garcia
OC- 52 Cole 65 Galliard
RG- 71 Murray...64 Sweezy.
RT - 68 Beachum
Defensive Interior Line
DT - 94 Allen
NT - 90 Peko Sr...92 Lawrence
DT - 92 Blackson... 95 Fotu
Linebackers
OLB - 43 Reddick
ILB - ..59 Campbell 48 Simmons 47 Z Turner
ILB - 58 Hicks 51 Vallejo
OLB - 44 Golden 42 Kennard
Defensive Backs
CB - 21 P Peterson...27 K Peterson
CB - 20 Kirkpatrick...33 Murphy
S - 34 J Thompson...35 D Thompson...28 C Washington
S - 32 Baker...31 Banjo. 40 Tillman*
Cardinals Special Teams
P - ...02 Lee
K- ....xx Nugent
H - ...02 Lee
LS - 46 Brewer
KR -29 Edmonds
PR - 13 Kirk
Matchups
Matchup: Rams Passing Attack vs. Cardinal Pass Defense
Rams are expected to start Wolford in place of the injured Goff. Smart money would come down on the side of an aggressive Cardinal pass rush gobbling up Worley. But part of the Cardinal's defensive DNA is their tendency to play down to the level of their competition (as in Beathard). To be honest, we don't know how the Cards will respond to going up against a QB throwing to a number of injured receivers and who has no NFL game experience, but he looked pretty decent - with a pretty good set of wheels - in backup play.
Key Matchups - Worley, Reynolds and Woods vs. Cardinal Back 7...Ram OL vs. Simmons, Golden and Reddick... Everett and Higbee vs. Baker and Banjo
Matchup: Rams Rushing Attack vs. Cardinal Run Defense
Akers (inj) is out. Henderson and M Brown aren't expected do much to help.
Cards gave up (what was it?) 181 yards to Jeff Wilson last week vs. Niners. Defense has been known to play stout at times vs. the run, but they are equally as likely to lay an egg defending against enemy runners. Who will (or will not) show up?
Key Matchups
Brown and Henderson vs. Blackson. Lawrence and Fotu vs Ram OL.
Matchup: Cardinal Passing Attack vs. Rams Pass Defense
Against SF, the Cards were unable to move out of "3 & out" territory. We're not sure, but guess that opposing pass rushers and other defenders have studied the tape and figured out Murray's strength and weaknesses (& even more importantly, how to exploit them). They get to face Aaron Donald this Sunday. Donald can take over a game all by himself. Expect Rams to pit Ramsay vs. Hopkins and let other matchups materialize on their own. Fitz and Kirk should have an edge over Hill and other Ram defenders. Arnold is starting to put things together at TE.
Key Matchups:
Donald vs Pugh, Cole and Sweezy...Hopkins vs. Ramsay... Kirk vs. Hill
Matchup: Cardinal Running Attack vs. Rams Run Defense
Cardinal RBs have been less than stellar when asked to turn 2-yards after contact into 7 or 8 yd gains. Key buggaboo seems to be "length of functional strength." To be effective, a running game to deliver on expectations - if the offense needs 3 yards to pick up a 1st down, 2 yards isn't going to cut it. It will just leave the offense with the tough decision of going for it on 4th & inches.
Key Matchups
Donald vs. Cardinal interior (Pugh, Cole and Sweezy)
Matchup Ram Special Teams vs. Cardinal Special Teams
Gay and Hecker are getting it done for the Rams, Dunno about Webster. Nugent has been totally reliable but only average legged. Lee has been "money." Kirk and Edmonds have an edge over Webster. In coverage, Cards have been effective, Gardeck and other coverage guys are out. s
Key Matchups
Gay vs. Nugent...Hekker vs. Lee....and Webster vs. Kirk.
Last Word
"Do or die" for playoff hopes. What it all boils down to: Cards have a better group of healthy receivers and a banged up QB capable of lighting it up, but the Rams are a more disciplined and mistake-free football team. Take away Hopkins vs. Ramsay and you have Fitz, Kirk ( & Arnold) going up against backup defenders in coverage. This could provide the edge Cards need. |
