The Cardinals left SoFi Stadium with their second win of the season, and they did it the hard way.
Arizona beat the Rams 18-16 on Sunday, leaning on a defense that squeezed the life out of Los Angeles’ offense and a steady night from Chad Ryland, who drilled six field goals and capped it with a 43-yarder as time expired. The result gave the Cardinals their second victory, and both of them have come at the same building - Week 1 against the Chargers, then this one against the Rams.
That part matters because Arizona came in ranked No. 26 in yards allowed and No. 32 in points allowed, but that version of the Cardinals didn’t show up. Los Angeles had barely cracked 100 yards by halftime, and the Rams were stuck with three three-and-outs in the first half. They also lost kicker Blake Grupe early after he injured his knee while making a tackle on a kickoff.
Even with the offense never finding the end zone, Arizona kept controlling the game. The Cardinals held the ball for 34:52 to the Rams’ 25:08, and Ryland kept cashing in once the offense crossed into scoring range. Arizona never got six points on a drive, but it didn’t need to with Ryland delivering one kick after another.
Los Angeles did find the end zone twice, but not enough to finish the job. Blake Corum caught a 15-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, and then Matthew Stafford hit Colby Parkinson for a 6-yard score with 47 seconds left. With Grupe sidelined, punter Ethan Evans handled the extra point and put the Rams up by two.
That edge vanished quickly. Jacoby Brissett found Jalen Brooks for a 21-yard completion on Arizona’s next possession, and an unnecessary roughness penalty moved the Cardinals 15 more yards. Just like that, they were sitting in comfortable field-goal territory.
Ryland did the rest.
Brissett finished 24 of 35 for 218 yards with an interception, while Trey McBride paced the receiving group with seven catches for 53 yards. Stafford went 25 of 33 for 222 yards and two touchdowns. Puka Nacua had six catches for 80 yards, and Davante Adams finished with three receptions for 39 yards before leaving late in the fourth quarter with an apparent leg injury.
Arizona’s two wins at SoFi Stadium now outnumber the combined one win there by the Rams and Chargers.
The Cardinals, now 2-4, return home to face the Broncos in Week 7. The 2-4 Rams head to Las Vegas next weekend to play the Raiders.
In Other News...
Rams Just Wasted A Defensive Effort Fans Deserved Better Than This
The Rams had more than enough on defense to put themselves in position to win Sunday, but they could not get the offense to meet them halfway in an 18-16 loss to the Cardinals. Los Angeles never found the end zone, and Matthew Stafford did not get over 100 passing yards until the fourth quarter, a glaring sign of how long the offense spent searching for anything that resembled rhythm.
Meanwhile, the defense kept doing its part, coming up with an interception and tightening up inside the red zone to keep Arizona from pulling away. Even with that effort, the game still came down to the final kick, and the Cardinals walked it off as time expired, leaving the Rams with the kind of loss that feels especially frustrating because the work on one side of the ball deserved a better finish. [Read more 🡒]
Colts Pressure On Shane Steichen Just Raised One Huge Question
The Colts rocky start has only added to the noise around Shane Steichens future, with Indianapolis sitting at 2-4 through Week 6 and the scrutiny around the head coach growing louder by the week. Co-owner and CEO Carlie Irsay-Gordon has reportedly already put Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard on notice about the standard the franchise expects to meet in 2026, a clear sign that the organization is looking beyond just the current slide.
For a team trying to steady itself before the season drifts any further, the conversation is no longer just about fixing the offense or getting back on track. It is also about what happens if the results do not change, and the list of possible replacements is already part of the backdrop around Steichens tenure, which makes every week from here carry a little more weight. [Read more 🡒]
Jalen Hurts Rams Aftermath Now Carries Much Bigger Questions
Jalen Hurts health situation has now shifted far beyond the usual late-season injury chatter, with the Eagles ruling him out for the rest of the year after diagnosing him with deep vein thrombosis and bilateral pulmonary emboli. The team laid out a detailed timeline of how the blood clot issues were discovered, how he was treated and evaluated, and how travel factored into the process before medical experts were consulted and the decision was made to place him on injured reserve.
For the Rams, who have had plenty of recent history with Hurts on the other side of the field, the immediate football angle is only part of the story now. What matters most is that one of the leagues most prominent quarterbacks is dealing with a serious medical issue that leaves the Eagles without their starter and raises much bigger questions than anything tied to the standings. [Read more 🡒]