‘Here we go. Game-winner’: Chad Ryland knew Cardinals were winning after Rams scored

Not only did kicker Chad Ryland kick the game-winning field goal for the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, but he scored every point in the team’s 18-16 win over the Los Angeles Rams.

When the Rams scored a go-ahead touchdown with 47 seconds left in the game, Ryland knew the team would get him in position to pull off the improbable upset in Los Angeles.

“When the Rams scored that touchdown, I looked at Blake (Gillikin) and I’m like, ‘Alright pal, here we go. Game-winner.’ Because we’ve executed our end-of-half, end-of-game mechanics a couple times leading up to this moment,” Ryland told Arizona Sports’ Wolf & Luke. “Give Jacoby Brissett and the fellas the ball with 45ish seconds, we knew we were gonna have a chance to get in range and go knock a kick down.”

Ryland’s walk-off field goal was his career-high sixth made kick of the day. His previous career high was five made field goals in 2024 against the Minnesota Vikings.

The 27-year-old kicker is now 14 of 16 on the year and a perfect 14 of 14 inside 50 yards. His game-winning kick on Sunday came from 43 yards out and the field goal unit had to make it on to the field, get set up and snap it all with a running clock because Arizona was out of timeouts.

“The last thing you want to do is kick that ball with too much time on the clock and then you gotta go cover a kickoff, which a couple teams this year have gotten bitten by that bug,” Ryland said. “So, we got over the ball with about 15 seconds, and that 14-, 15-, 16-mark on the play clock is enough for me to know that I can take my full steps and we can run our normal operation, and it timed out perfectly. I think the ball got snapped with three seconds.

“As fun as it was to make that kick, and as proud as I am of our group for that kick — that whole series — I couldn’t be more ecstatic to be a part of from a team perspective. It was awesome.”

At a time when the Cardinals absolutely needed a game fans could rally behind and feel proud of, Ryland delivered every moment his number was called upon, and Arizona completed one of biggest upsets of the 2026 season.

Related

Cardinals-Rams injury report: Froholdt remains in concussion protocol, Robinson suffers wrist injuryBickley: Carson Beck is ready to shoot his shot against the RamsFormer Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians expresses interest in return to coaching‘Got to be confident’: Carson Beck said experience in spotlight, preparation will help in NFL debutCardinals designate Hunter Long to return from injured reserveCarson Beck named the Cardinals’ starter against Rams