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5 Lessons from the Arizona Cardinals’ Win over the LA Rams

Vaseline September 16, 2024

By the time the final seconds of the third quarter ticked away, the Arizona Cardinals could essentially relax. Their 45-minute work had been so dominant, so complete, so suffocating that the Los Angeles Rams’ hopes had been extinguished prematurely and decisively. It was everything Arizona could have wanted on Sunday — and then some.

And after a crushing Week 1 loss in Buffalo, they delivered a 41-10 victory to move the Cardinals to 1-1. Here’s what we learned on an incredible afternoon in Glendale:

Cardinals leave week 1 behind with ease

As promising as the Cardinals’ Week 1 performance was, it was also discouraging, raising the question of how they would respond.

On Wednesday, head coach Jonathan Gannon spoke about his players’ reaction — how well-prepared they were during the film sessions leading up to their week of practice. At the time, it was easy to dismiss that as the requisite dose of optimism from a head coach.

Now it seems real. The Cardinals didn’t miss a beat on Sunday, jumping out to a 21-0 lead in the first 23 minutes. They were nearly flawless in every phase of the game and ultimately earned their biggest win since New Year’s Day 2017. And they certainly looked like a team that saw its Week 1 performance as a sign of progress — not one defined by a disappointing showing.

“I’m happy for the players,” Gannon said. “They put a lot into this and had to pick themselves up off the mat after round one and give it their all in round two.”

Welcome to the NFL, Marvin Harrison Jr.

For six days, the NFL world was in a panic over Marvin Harrison Jr. He entered Week 1 as one of the most anticipated receiving prospects of all time and left the week with one catch for four yards.

It didn’t take long for that concern to seem ridiculous. Kyler Murray and Harrison didn’t score on their first pass attempts of the day, but they were solid after that. The rookie finished with four catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns on eight targets.

Each reception was impressive in its own way.

On the first, he made an incredible, over-the-shoulder catch while tapping his toe in the back of the end zone. The play had a 13.7% completion rate — the most improbable touchdown of the season, according to Next Gen Stats.

On the second, Harrison ran a deep crossing route, keeping it shallow enough to draw the Rams’ defenders toward the line of scrimmage. With Murray watching him, Harrison broke deep, where his quarterback found him for another score.

On the third, Harrison faked a scramble drill back to the line of scrimmage before breaking deep. The move took a safety out of the game and allowed Murray to find Harrison with ease.

In the fourth round, Murray hit Harrison with a perfect back-shoulder fade — exactly the play they couldn’t pull off last week, which they attributed to a lack of preseason rehearsals together.

When you add it all up, it turns out to be exactly what the Cardinals had in mind for Harrison.

“He didn’t prove anything to me,” Murray said. “You’re all making a big deal out of it. It was one game. One game.”

This was Kyler Murray at his absolute best

Sunday was also all the Cardinals had drafted Murray — five years earlier. He completed 17 of 21 passes for 266 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. On the ground, he added five carries for 59 yards.

He became the first Cardinals quarterback since Kurt Warner in 2008 to finish a game with a perfect passer rating. It was only Murray’s third career game with at least 250 passing yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

He looked good doing it, too. His deep ball was the best he’d looked since coming back from his torn ACL, and the Rams couldn’t get him in the pocket. Every time it looked like they might, Murray would escape for a magical completion or scramble.

“When things break, God blesses me with the ability to make things happen,” Murray said.

Game review: Arizona Cardinals Make Quick Work of Visiting LA Rams

The attacking line was excellent

This week has been filled with concerns about the Cardinals offensive line, with Kelvin Beachum filling in for the injured Jonah Williams. None of those concerns surfaced on Sunday.

Murray recorded just one sack and had time in the pocket to find his favorite receivers. The offensive line’s work in the run game was even more impressive, though. They regularly created gaping holes for James Conner, especially when using pulling linemen to split the Rams’ defense. Conner finished with 21 carries for 122 yards after managing just 3.1 yards a week ago.

“I thought the rush was great,” Gannon said. “I thought the plan was good, it was executed all week in practice and we had some guys that won one-on-ones.”

The Cardinals defense took full advantage of the Rams’ injuries

It’s hard to make sweeping statements about the Cardinals’ much-maligned defense based on Sunday’s performance. The Rams were without two starting offensive linemen and star receiver Puka Nacua, then lost Cooper Kupp in the first half.

One thing is for sure: The Cardinals took advantage. They had five sacks — three by Warren McClendon, the Rams’ third-choice left tackle. Dennis Gardeck had three of those sacks, while Zaven Collins and Krys Barnes each had one.

“I thought the rush was great,” Gannon said. “I thought the plan was good, it was executed all week in practice and we had some guys that won one-on-ones.”

The Cardinals also stifled running back Kyren Williams, limiting him to 25 yards on 12 carries. And they didn’t let Matthew Stafford use his secondary weapons without Kupp and Nacua. No Rams pass catcher finished with more than 50 receiving yards.