The Los Angeles Rams’ homecoming against the Arizona Cardinals was a statement game to the rest of the league. The Rams dominated both sides of the football to present the home crowd with a 34-0 thrashing. In reality, it could have been much worse.
The Rams offense had a slow start to the first quarter, but the defense didn’t allow much of anything either. Quarterback Jared Goff spread the ball out evenly finding Brandin Cooks early on to set up an 11-yard Todd Gurley touchdown run. The Rams opted for and converted a two-point conversion due to a Greg Zuerlein injury to increase the lead to 8-0.
Meanwhile, the defense obliterated the Cardinal offense by shutting them out the entire first half. The frustration of Sam Bradford was evident as the Rams secondary played tight coverage. David Johnson was limited just 19 yards in the first half. Punter Johnny Hekker made his first field goal of his career to increase the lead to 11-0. Gurley found his way in the end zone for the final play in the half, and converted his second two-point conversion to continue the domination, 19-0.
The Rams continued their defensive domination in the second half. The Cardinals’ Andy Lee put in most of the work. Gurley found the end zone for the third time with 3:39 left in the third quarter to increase the lead, 27-0. Goff did surrender an interception to Patrick Peterson. The Rams surrendered turnover on downs twice after failing to convert on fourth down. Goff answered back with a short pass to tight end Tyler Higbee to seal the victory.
The Rams will attempt to win their third straight on Sunday, September 23 against the new crosstown rivals, the Los Angeles Chargers. Kickoff begins at 1:05 p.m. PT at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Source: ESPN.com
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