The Los Angeles Rams were flying high before their Week 4 matchup with the Arizona Cardinals. They started the year 3-0 and were fresh off a 10-point win over the Bucs. But the Cardinals gave them a reality check, blowing them out at SoFi Stadium, 37-20.
It was Matthew Stafford’s first loss as a member of the Rams, and it was his worst performance of the season at the time. Looking back at that game, Stafford can recall several missed opportunities and mistakes he made in the loss.
He discussed those misses on Thursday ahead of this week’s rematch with the Cardinals, pointing to a third-down pass to Cooper Kupp and a deep shot to Tyler Higbee down the sideline as throws he missed on. He also mentioned the team’s two turnovers – a pick by him and a fumble lost by Sony Michel – as costly mistakes.
“Obviously had the two turnovers that hurt us and some missed opportunities on some third downs. I think I had Cooper down in the low red, on a chance ball – sailed on me. And then, we just kind of missed each other on a couple more ops in some – in certain places. Third down going into to score on the first drive of the game – just give Higbee a chance on that one,” Stafford said. “So, there are opportunities just like every single game to just stay in it a little bit longer. I think there’s some plays out there that maybe you go into halftime and it’s a three-point game or it’s tied or something like that and feel a whole lot better coming out in the second half. So a lot of things we can do better, but a lot of stuff to build on as well that I thought we did well. I thought our guys up front played well, played physical, ran the ball well, all those things.”
The Rams enter Monday’s game as slight underdogs against the 10-2 Cardinals, which is no surprise considering they’re on the road. They have the ability to beat their division rivals, as they did in each of the previous eight times before Week 4’s loss, but they can’t commit the same mistakes they made in Week 4.
They must cut down on the turnovers and maintain possession after giving it away twice and only possessing the ball for 24:50 the first time around.