The good, the bad, and the ugly of Rams playoff-clinching victory

The defense provides another gutty performance to vault the Rams to the playoffs

The Los Angeles Rams took care of business against the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday and were awarded with a NFC West crown thanks to a Washington Commander win on Sunday night. Here is the good, the bad, and the ugly from LA’s most recent victory.

The Good

The defense is playing its best at the right time

For the third week in-a-row Chris Shula’s squad held their opponent under 10 points. There are still questions about the defense after allowing Kyler Murray to throw for 321 yards and a touchdown, but they got the stops when they needed them. Kamren Kinchens and Akhello Witherspoon both came away with pivotal interceptions in the final minutes of the game to seal the victory. Braden Fiske had two sacks to put him at eight for the season and well within grasp of the defensive rookie of the year award over fellow rookie Jared Verse. The unit as a whole was also able to make a stop on a 4th-and-1 near the goal line. The Rams secondary had some trouble with Marvin Harrison Jr. who finished with 96 yards receiving and Trey McBride who had 123 yards and a touchdown, but in comparison to the last time LA saw this Cardinal offense they looked much improved. Some complimentary football from the offense and this would have been a blowout.

Special Teams is a weapon

Joshua Karty’s up-and-down season is on the up again after making both of his field goals and an extra point. His first attempt was from 53 yards out which looked easy for the rookie kicker. Ethan Evans was busy but had some monstrous boots that pinned Arizona in their own territory, including a 57-yard bomb that put the Cardinals on their own four yard line in the first quarter. Michael Hoecht was credited with an extra point block that turned out to be huge for LA since it kept them up by four points in the fourth quarter.

SoFi becomes a homefield advantage

The Rams fans showed out on Saturday night in support of LA’s efforts to get into the playoffs. Plenty of videos on X surfaced showing a stadium covered in a wave of blue and the notion that SoFi not being a home field advantage all but dissipated. Arizona was called for two false starts which should be credited to the fans that filled the stadium. With the Rams hosting a playoff game they will need the same energy in a couple of weeks.

The Bad

LA starts slow… again

The offense again was scoreless in the first quarter with Matthew Stafford to blame for a lot of it. the veteran quarterback looked off on his first few passes leading to a three-and-out on his first drive of the game. Things got going in the second quarter when Kyren Williams was able to punch in the score from a yard away but that was after Stafford threw an ill-advised pass that was nearly intercepted in the endzone (and yes, Sean McVay got way too cutesy with his play calling). Against some of their better opponents this year McVay has gotten his offense to quick starts (i.e. Minnesota Vikings and Bills) but for whatever reason the same cannot be said against other opponents. If the offense can figure things out and the defense continues to play at the level they are now the Rams have a real shot to make some noise in the playoffs.

The Ugly

Is Cooper Kupp a liability?

Apart from Puka Nacua, the receiving corps left a lot to be desired. Nacua had 10 catches for 129 yards while the rest of the team had 60 yards on seven receptions. The most surprising dud was of course Cooper Kupp who was targeted three times but only came down with one catch for 29 yards. Saturday’s game marks the third time in as many weeks that Kupp has been held to three receptions or less. This could be by design to get the attention off of the real threat, but even then it is still worrisome. Meanwhile, Tutu Atwell is barely seeing the field despite proving time and time again that he can make the plays in the biggest moments and was once the leading receiver when Kupp and Nacua were out with injury. Kupp will always be a threat, but his disappearing act in the offense as of late Atwell should get a larger share of the snaps in the future.