ARIZONA CARDINALS

How the West Was Won Week 4: Rams surprise Cardinals in Glendale

Oct 6, 2015, 7:43 AM

St. Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey (12) celebrates his touchdown receptions with teammates...

St. Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey (12) celebrates his touchdown receptions with teammates Kenny Britt (18) and Tavon Austin (11) during the second half of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2015, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Through three weeks of the NFL season, the Arizona Cardinals looked like the class of the NFC West — and arguably the entire conference, for that matter.

But the St. Louis Rams had something to say about that in Week 4 with an impressive, if not surprising victory over the Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale.

Meanwhile, the San Francisco 49ers continued to struggle, mostly on offense, in an uninspired loss to the Green Bay Packers.

Here’s a closer look at what went down in the NFC West in Week 4.


St. Louis Rams 24, Arizona Cardinals 22

David Johnson, Janoris JenkinsThe Cardinals were on their heels literally from the first play of the game. Rookie David Johnson, who had jump-started an Arizona road win at Chicago in Week 2 by returning the opening kickoff 108 yards for a touchdown, had the opposite effect Sunday.

Johnson tried to return Greg Zuerlein’s kickoff from five yards deep, was hit by Mark Barron of the Rams and fumbled the football and Darren Bates recovered it at the Cardinals’ 17-yard line. Three plays later Nick Foles hit Tavon Austin on a 12-yard touchdown to give the Rams a lead they’d never relinquish.

Rookie running back Todd Gurley ran for 142 yards (140 in the second half) and the Rams notched their second NFC West win.

Arizona Money Quote: “Poor execution.” — Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians when asked if there was a theme to Sunday’s loss.

St. Louis Money Quote: “Well, we got a contribution out of all three phases today. That’s what has been hindering us the last couple weeks. We finally had a second half of offense and that was the difference in the ballgame.” — St. Louis head coach Jeff Fisher.

Stat of the Game: The Rams got 17 points off of Cardinals’ turnovers.

Stat of the Game II: Arizona made five trips inside the Rams’ red zone and scored only one touchdown. They had been 11-of-12 in that category in the first three weeks of the season.


Green Bay Packers 17, San Francisco 49ers 3

Clay Matthews, Colin KaepernickThe offensive ugliness continued for the Niners. San Francisco managed just 196 yards of offense against the Packers, and just 77 yards on the ground — 57 of which were courtesy of quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

Green Bay scored on their first possession, with Aaron Rodgers hitting Richard Rodgers on a 9-yard touchdown pass. San Francisco answered in the second quarter with a Phil Dawson field goal from 33 yards out. But that was all the scoring the 49ers could muster. Green Bay tacked on 10 points in the third quarter on a John Kuhn touchdown run and a Mason Crosby field goal to provide the winning margin.

San Francisco has put up just 352 total yards in its last two games — a big reason why the fan base and media are wondering if Kaepernick should be benched in favor of backup QB Blaine Gabbert.

San Francisco Money Quote: “We’ve got to collectively on offense have 11 guys going in the same direction,” — 49ers coach Jim Tomsula. Yeah, that seems like a good first step.

Stat of the Game: Kaepernick was sacked six times, including two by linebacker Nick Perry.


Seattle Seahawks 13, Detroit Lions 10

APTOPIX Lions Seahawks FootballAnother Monday Night Football appearance, another lucky outcome for the Seahawks. In 2012, it was the “Fail Mary” — this season it was a fumble at the half-yard line by Detroit’s Calvin Johnson (this really needs a good nickname, by the way).

The Lions took over on their own 9-yard line and drove to the Seattle 1 with a 1:51 left. Matthew Stafford hit Johnson who lunged for the goal line, but had the ball knocked out of his hands by Kam Chancellor. The ball trickled into the end zone, where K.J. Wright batted it out of the end zone — which should have been a penalty.

But the officials ruled it was Seattle’s ball at the 20, and the Seahawks killed the clock for their second win on the season. Dean Blandino, the head of the league’s officials, told NFL Network that the Seahawks should have been flagged and the Lions should have had a first down at the 1-yard line.

Seattle Money Quote: “Now that you look at it, we were fortunate,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll

Stat of the Game: Seattle’s Russell Wilson was sacked six times and Detroit racked up 10 quarterback hits against him.


howWestmiddlebanner

Team Overall PF PA Home Away Conf. Div. NFC North AFC North
cardinals150wordmark 3-1 148 73 2-1 1-0 3-1 1-1 1-0 0-0
rams150wordmark 2-2 74 89 1-1 1-1 2-1 2-0 0-0 0-1
seahawks150wordmark 2-2 87 71 2-0 0-2 2-2 0-1 2-1 0-0
49ers150wordmark 1-3 48 110 1-1 0-2 1-2 0-1 1-1 0-1

Award Winners

Tavon AustinOffensive Player of the Week: Tavon Austin, WR, St. Louis – Teammate Todd Gurley garnered many of the headlines in Week 4 for his breakout performance, but it was Austin who had the two biggest plays of the game for the Rams with a pair of touchdown catches. Austin finished with six catches for 96 yards and ran for 20 more in the Rams’ road win in Arizona.
Honorable mention: Todd Gurley (STL), Nick Foles (STL), Russell Wilson (SEA), Chris Johnson (ARZ)

APTOPIX Lions Seahawks FootballDefensive Player of the Week: Kam Chancellor, S, Seattle – In just his second week back after a lengthy holdout, Chancellor made the week’s biggest play, punching the ball out of Calvin Johnson’s hands right before he crossed the goal line to preserve a Seattle win. Chancellor had seven total tackles on the night. Since his return, the Seahawks defense has yielded only a field goal in two games.
Honorable mention: Aaron Lynch (SF), Janoris Jenkins (STL), Alec Ogletree (STL), T.J. McDonald (STL), James Laurinaitis (STL), Calais Campbell (ARZ)

Chandler Catanzaro, Drew Butler, E.J. GainesSpecial Teams Player of the Week: Chandler Catanzaro, K, Arizona – In a week where kickers missed a lot of kicks (and big ones, too), Catanzaro was perfect on five field goal attempts against St. Louis. The second-year kicker kept the Cardinals in the game and is 7-for-7 on field goals so far this season.
Honorable mention: Steven Hauschka (SEA), Mark Barron (STL), Johnny Hekker (STL)


Week 5 Schedule

• Seattle Seahawks at Cincinnati Bengals – Sunday – 10:00 a.m. @ Paul Brown Stadium (FOX)

• St. Louis Rams at Green Bay Packers – Sunday – 10:00 a.m. @ Lambeau Field (FOX)

• Arizona Cardinals at Detroit Lions – Sunday – 1:05 p.m. @ Ford Field (FOX)

• San Francisco 49ers at New York Giants – Sunday – 5:30 p.m. @ MetLife Stadium (NBC)

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