Rams not inspiring confidence entering playoffs even after win over Cardinals

INGLEWOOD — If the decision for the Rams to play their starters in Sunday’s regular-season finale was about getting back in rhythm ahead of the postseason, about erasing the bad vibes of two consecutive losses before another one could end their year, you can give their performance in a 37-20 win an incomplete grade.

At best.

Three straight touchdowns to close the game skewed the final result, but it wasn’t supposed to be this hard for these Rams (12-5) against these Arizona Cardinals (3-14). Not after the Rams beat this team by 28 points four weeks ago. Not after head coach Sean McVay decided his best players needed to be on the field this week instead of resting ahead of wild-card weekend, in which the Rams will travel to face the Carolina Panthers (8-9).

But the Rams played the same kind of inconsistent football that irked McVay so much in last week’s loss to the Falcons. The type where the offense opened with two straight empty possessions in the red zone, put 10 quick points on the board before half to take the lead, then went three-and-out twice to open the second half and allow the Cardinals to retake the lead.

The type where the defense gets a stop on the Cardinals’ first drive of the third quarter, only for special teams – of course, special teams – allowed a fake-punt conversion. Elijah Demercado was so open in the middle of the field that the pass from punter Matt Haack could hang in the air for a seeming eternity before coming down for a 28-yard completion.

On the very next play, Michael Wilson beat Ahkello Witherspoon deep for a 43-yard touchdown. When Josiah Deguara toe-tapped in the end zone to give the Cardinals the lead one possession later, the crowd of 72,004 at SoFi Stadium was fully uncomfortable.

The second half wasn’t all that different than the first, when it took some time for the offense to find its footing. After a Josaiah Stewart strip-sack gave the Rams the ball at the Arizona 23 on their opening possession, the Rams couldn’t pick up a first down.

Then the Rams’ second drive was all kinds of strange.

Xavier Smith dove to save a tipped ball and turn it into a first down, but a tipped ball a couple plays later was almost intercepted by the Cardinals. A holding call against right guard Justin Dedich wiped out a deep completion to Puka Nacua. Tight end Colby Parkinson dropped an easy pass on the goal line, then a false start by Coleman Shelton contributed to settling for another field goal.

About all the Rams had going for them early was the consistency of their pass rush. The group delivered quarterback pressures on 12 of Arizona’s first 14 dropbacks, while Stewart, Byron Young and Desjuan Johnson contributed first-half sacks.

Eventually, the Rams found their footing on offense. The group converted six of their first eight attempts on third down, with Kyren Williams and Tyler Higbee – back for the first time in six weeks following an ankle injury – delivering conversions to move the four-minute drill at the end of the half.

Once at the goal line, the Rams went to Nacua, once a screen pass ruled just short upon review and then again on fourth-and-goal on a fade ball. His defender grabbed his jersey and smacked his facemask, but Nacua went up strong with his right arm and came down with the one-handed touchdown.

Combined with a Witherspoon chase-down interception that set the Rams up for an end-of-half field goal, the Rams had a 10-point lead and – finally – some momentum going into halftime.

But that quickly stalled, as previously covered. It took a couple enough-is-enough drives by the offense ending in touchdowns to Parkinson and Higbee, paired with more disruption by the pass rush, for the Rams to finally put the Cardinals away.