Big Red Recap: Cardinals last in NFC West after Week 4 loss to Rams

One-fourth of the way through the season, the Arizona Cardinals have one win. Worse yet, they are staring up at the rest of the NFC West.

That’s right, the Cardinals sit in last place, tied with San Francisco.

The Cardinals dropped their second straight, losing 17-13 to the Los Angeles Rams before a sold out University of Phoenix Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

And adding insult to injury, Carson Palmer left the game late in the fourth quarter to be evaluated for a possible concussion, leaving his status for Week 5 very much in doubt.

The Cardinals (1-3) visit San Francisco in just four days.

Before exiting, Palmer went 23-of-36 for 288 yards and a touchdown. He was also intercepted once and fumbled, accounting for two of the Cardinals’ five turnovers.

Palmer’s favorite target was John Brown, who had 10 catches for 144 yards, his fourth career 100-yard receiving game.

Drew Stanton played two series in relief of Palmer and was picked off to end each drive.

It’s the second straight year the Rams (3-1) dealt the Cardinals a home defeat.

Rams quarterback Case Keenum passed for 266 yards and two touchdowns, both to Brian Quick; the latter proved to the game-winner as the pair hooked up for a four-yard score to re-take the lead, 17-13, with 2:36 left to play.

A focus of the Cardinals defensively all week, Todd Gurley was held to 33 rushing yards on 19 carries.

THE GOOD

Despite no first-quarter points for a fourth straight game — 10 total possessions — the Cardinals’ offense did see two milestones reached. First, Palmer moved ahead of Kerry Collins (40,922) for 15th place on the NFL’s all-time passing yardage list. He did so with an eight-yard throw to John Brown. Second, Larry Fitzgerald, appearing in his 190th game, extended his consecutive games with a catch streak to 183, tying Art Monk for the sixth-longest streak in league history.

A solid running game is a must. The Cardinals struggled rushing the football a week ago in Buffalo, totaling a season-low 88 yards. They eclipsed that mark in the first half against the Rams. David Johnson and Chris Johnson combined for 89 yards, with David Johnson leading the way with 58, which included a 31-yard second-quarter run. He carried the ball nine times. Chris Johnson had four touches of the football and gained 31 yards. He had a long of 18 yards.

It took nearly the entire first half, but the Cardinals finally found their way into the end zone. Palmer passed five yards to Michael Floyd for the game-tying score, 10-10, with 24 seconds left in the second quarter. On the previous play, Floyd had a 16-yard catch. Doing much of the heavy lifting on the eight-play, 80-yard drive, however, was Brown, who caught three balls for 53 yards. Targeted 12 times, he finished the first half with eight receptions for 95 yards.

At this rate, Chandler Jones will end his first season with the Cardinals with 16 sacks, at least. That’s the pace he is on, as is Markus Golden. Jones dropped Keenum on the first drive of the second half, doing so with the strip-sack. He recovered the fumble as well. On the Rams’ next possession, Golden pursued and reached Keenum. Jones and Golden are the first and second players in Cardinals history with at least one sack in each of the season’s first four games.

There appears to be no sophomore slump for David Johnson. On the Cardinals’ third-quarter scoring drive in which they took their first lead, 13-10, on the period’s final play with Chandler Catanzaro kicking a 21-yard field goal, Johnson surpassed 100 yards from scrimmage. He becomes the first player in franchise history to post 100 or more total scrimmage yards in each of the season’s first four games.

THE BAD

Given new life after a defensive holding penalty on Patrick Peterson, the Rams scored on their second possession with Keenum throwing a 67-yard touchdown to Brian Quick, who slipped away from Marcus Cooper in coverage. The Peterson penalty negated a Deone Bucannon third-down sack, which would’ve gotten the Rams off the field. Instead, the Rams went 90 yards on seven plays in 3:28 to take the early lead, 7-0, at the 1:59 mark of the first quarter.

Missed tackles. Blown assignments. Mental errors. It’s why the Cardinals trailed for much of the first half. In addition to the Peterson call, Jermaine Gresham was whistled for holding which wiped out a long Chris Johnson run that would’ve set up a 1st-and-goal. Instead, Chandler Catanzaro kicked a 25-yard field goal. Also, there looked to be some miscommunication between Peterson and Tyrann Mathieu on Kenny Britt’s 34-yard reception in the second quarter.

Though none of them resulted in points for the Rams, the Cardinals turned the ball over five times. Palmer was picked off in the second quarter and fumbled in the third quarter. David Johnson also coughed up the football in the third quarter. Again, neither proved costly, but they did stall momentum and took potential points off the scoreboard. The interception occurred in the end zone on a ball intended for Brown. The fumbles both happened in Rams territory.

STAT OF THE GAME

-4: The Cardinals lost the turnover battle, 5-1, and they have now turned the ball over a combined 10 times in the past two games after zero giveaways in the season’s first two games

HE SAID IT

“Stick together. Come to work tomorrow,” head coach Bruce Arians said, referring to his message to the team. “We don’t have much time to think about this one.”

NOTED

– Floyd appeared to see limited action during the first half. On his first snap, he dropped a 3rd-and-9 pass attempt.

– Tyvon Branch (groin) twice exited the game in the third quarter. He was unable to return after the second time.

– Chris Johnson (groin) walked slowly off the field and immediately to the locker room early in the fourth quarter.

– Among the Cardinals’ inactives were a trio of rookies: Robert Nkemdiche, Cole Toner and Brandon Williams.

– At halftime, the Cardinals inducted wide receiver Roy Green into the Ring of Honor as its 16th member.

UP NEXT

It’s a short week for the Cardinals.

In four days they head to San Francisco for a Thursday matchup against another division rival, the 49ers. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:25 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning four hours earlier on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

This will be the 50th all-time meeting.

The Cardinals have won two straight and three of the past four contests, including their last visit to Levi’s Stadium, 19-13, which snapped a six-game road losing streak in the Bay Area.

Overall, the Niners lead the series 29-20 dating back to 1951.

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