After the Arizona Cardinals took a pounding from the Detroit Lions last weekend, the conversation around the team had to shift. The coaching staff spent the week sorting through what needed fixing. The kicker spot, though, wasn’t one of the concerns, even after Chad Ryland missed a 53-yard field goal against Detroit.
Ryland’s response came against the Los Angeles Rams, and it came in a big way. On Sunday morning, he got an unusual early text from his mother, Deb Ryland, who knew her son was still carrying the weight of that miss. Her message was simple: have a good game, trust his process, and command the field.
Ryland took it to heart.
Against the Rams, he handled every point Arizona scored, drilling all six of his field goal attempts in the Cardinals’ 18-16 win. His last one, a 43-yarder as time expired, sealed an important divisional victory. It also put him in rare company: Ryland became the 10th kicker in NFL history to make six field goals in a single game.
The performance also pushed him up the Cardinals’ single-game scoring list. He now sits fourth on the franchise chart for “scoring the most points by a single player in a single game,” behind Ernie Nevers’ 40 points in 1929, K Jay Feeley’s 25 points in Week 10 of the 2010 season, and K Jim Bakken’s 21 points in 1967.
The finish itself had plenty of drama. The Rams tied the game at 15-15 on a late touchdown with 47 seconds left. Their new kicker, Blake Grupe, left the game with an ACL tear, and punter Ethan Evans had to step in for the PAT, which he made to put Los Angeles up 16-15.
Arizona wasn’t done. The Cardinals drove into range in the final seconds, helped by a 21-yard catch from backup receiver Jalen Brooks and an unnecessary roughness penalty. That moved the ball to LA’s 25-yard line, where Ryland came on and delivered the winner.
The ending fit a pattern that’s been building with this team. The Cardinals have spent much of this season - and seven games last year - flipping games that looked lost. This time, the script turned in their favor.
And the takeaway was obvious: this Cardinals team doesn’t fold, and when a chance is there, they can seize it.
In Other News...
Seahawks Stay Committed To Sam Darnold Despite One Growing Concern
The Cardinals got a fresh reminder of why their defense has been so hard to crack in the early part of the season, even if the spotlight in the division has been on quarterbacks and playmakers elsewhere. Safety Budda Baker was quick to point to defensive coordinator Nick Rallis after Arizonas upset win, and the praise centered on how the game plan came together against the Rams in a tight, low-scoring finish.
For Arizona, that kind of endorsement matters because it speaks to trust, preparation and the kind of structure the defense is trying to build week to week. Bakers comments also hinted at how clearly Rallis mapped out the approach ahead of time, a detail that helps explain why the Cardinals were able to stay disciplined when the game tightened up late. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Face Serious Off-Field Fight Over Damaging Workplace Allegations
The off-field scrutiny around the Cardinals took another turn this week as the organization continued to deal with a lawsuit brought by two former employees, Don Shumpert and Kendra Hogue, who accuse the team and owner Michael Bidwill of racial discrimination, improper pay and other workplace problems. The Cardinals have denied the allegations, but the claims add another layer of distraction for a franchise that has spent plenty of time trying to keep attention on football.
A federal judge has now said the discrimination portions of the case cannot move through open court, instead sending those claims into binding arbitration under agreements the employees signed. The ruling does not make the dispute disappear, and it leaves the larger fight over the workplace allegations in a different forum, with the public getting only a limited view of how this one will play out. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Face A Growing Dilemma As Trade Deadline Nears
With the trade deadline drawing closer, Arizona is entering a stretch that could say a lot about how aggressively it wants to approach the rest of the season. The Cardinals are 2-4 heading into Week 7, and the conversation around the team is already branching in a few directions, from the quarterback picture to a defense that has had its share of uneven moments. Add in questions about player availability and recent game results, and it is easy to see why the front office is being pulled between patience and urgency.
The schedule offers Arizona a chance to keep itself in the mix, with several opponents ahead that look manageable on paper. But the bigger tension is whether the Cardinals stay put or start weighing the market for help, especially with speculation already building around some roster pieces and their value around the league. For now there are no official moves, only the kind of uncertainty that tends to hang over a team when wins have not come easily and the deadline is starting to loom. [Read more 🡒]