- Slug: Sports-Cardinals Arians,550
- Photo available (thumbnail, caption below)
By KRIS VOSSMER
Cronkite News
TEMPE – All that went right for the Cardinals through the first three weeks went all-wrong in the fourth week of the regular season. Head coach Bruce Arians knew the tall task the St. Louis Rams would present and Arizona uncharacteristically fell short late in a 24-22 loss at home.
Carson Palmer misfired on two throws on the Cardinals final drive and the team was disappointed with a defeat at the hands of a division foe.
“All we got to do is complete a pass and get a kick and we win the game anyway,” Arians said during his weekly Monday news conference. “Those types of games we’ve won for two years. [It was] the first one that we’ve lost like that and it’s a little hard to swallow because of the fact that we have won so many in the fourth quarter here the last two years.
“I think we just anticipated we’d make the play to win this one and we didn’t get it done.”
The Cardinals dominated in most facets of the game over the Rams, outgaining them 447 yards to 328 yards and picking up double the first downs. However, in the key areas they struggled and allowed St. Louis to take advantage. Arizona turned the ball over three times, leading to 17 Rams points. Prior to Sunday, the Cardinals had allowed 6 points off four turnovers all season.
Arizona also had to settle for field goals on four of their five trips to the red zone Sunday. Entering the game, they had scored a touchdown on an NFL-best 92 percent of their drives that reached the red zone (11-of-12). However, with these stats Arians does not second-guess any of his play calls and spreads the blame all around.
The offensive line took the biggest beating allowing four sacks of Palmer after he had only been sacked once in the first three games.
“Our communication was terrible in this ballgame,” Arians said. “When they went to their 3-man line, nickel blitzes, we did not handle it very well.”
The defense had its fair share of problems as well, especially in the second half when they started missing their gaps. It allowed for Rams rookie running back Todd Gurley to break through for 144 yards in the second half alone after only rushing for two in the first half.
The loss dropped the Cardinals to 3-1 but they still have a one-game lead in the NFC West. Arians just hopes Sunday’s loss won’t become a factor later in the season.
“I’m happy that we’re in first place,” Arians said. “I would’ve liked to have that game. Hopefully this won’t come back to haunt us.”
INJURY UPDATE: Arians said there was “nothing to report” as nobody was injured in the game. The Cardinals will regroup and there are expecting guys like running back Andre Ellington to be back soon.
On Ellington, Arians said he was “very close” to playing Sunday. “It was really a game time decision between he and a healthy player on how much we would have used him, so I went with the healthy guy.”
GROUND GAME: The Cardinals eclipsed 100 rushing yards for the fourth consecutive game this season, but lost for only the second time under Arians when rushing for 100 yards or more. They are now 14-2 in those games.
