The Los Angeles Rams got their act together in the second half in a 37-20 win over the Arizona Cardinals in the regular season finale. L.A. is locked into the NFC’s No. 5 seed with a rematch against the Carolina Panthers set for next weekend.
Before we think ahead to the playoffs, here is the good, the bad and the ugly from the Week 18 win over Arizona.
The Good
Strong fourth quarter prevents historic upset
Things weren’t looking good there for a while, huh?
Give credit where it’s due, considering the Cardinals had absolutely nothing to play for but pride, and they gave the Rams everything they had until they ran out of gas. The fourth quarter was a game changer for L.A.
Los Angeles scored on both meaningful drives in the quarter, excluding the kneel down to end it. Matthew Stafford made a late MVP push by throwing half of his 4 touchdown passes in the fourth, beginning with a touchdown pass to Tyler Higbee and capped off by a 1-yard score from Colby Parkinson.
Stafford did all he could for his MVP chances, though it might be too little, too late.
L.A. outgained the Redbirds 147-39 on their two touchdown drives sandwiched between two Cardinals’ punts and a turnover on downs.
Championship teams don’t need to play their best every week, but still must figure out ways to pull off wins even while things are falling apart around them. Los Angeles did exactly that on Sunday.
Tight end production
Up until the last stretch of the season, production from the tight end spot was a complete embarrassment. However, for a solid chunk of the second half of the year, it’s been reasonably good.
Parkinson had a pair of touchdown receptions, which brought his season total to 8. Higbee, fresh off a stint on IR, led the Rams with 91 receiving yards and a 22-yard score that helped L.A. finally break the game open with just over 10 minutes remaining.
It’s easy to forget just how much Higbee elevates the offense when he’s available. Needless to say, having him back now is excellent timing ahead of what could be a deep playoff run for Los Angeles.
The Rams’ offense only got more dangerous with Higbee back in the fold.
Pass rush and run defense returned in the nick of time
For a team to cure their woes, they only need to play the Cardinals. If only that translated to us in real-life.
Last week against the Falcons, star running back Bijan Robinson shredded the run defense to the tune of 195 yards, by far the most the unit had given up to any opposing back this year.
Additionally, the famously mobile Kirk Cousins was sacked a grand total of zero times. It was an inexcusable showing for Chris Shula’s defense, yet they made up for it against Arizona Sunday.
L.A. brought down Brissett six times and held the Cardinals to 79 yards on 15 carries. The Cards are painfully one-dimensional in 2025, so slowing down their run game wasn’t super impressive in hindsight.
Although this is the confidence booster the Rams have needed for weeks. Coming against an inferior opponent is just the start.
Pleasure doing business with you, AZ!
Extremely favorable playoff rematch
Los Angeles got the exact playoff matchup it wanted. All aboard the pain train Panthers.
We already knew that whoever won the NFC South didn’t deserve to make the playoffs. Carolina is backing into the postseason on a two-game losing streak, one of which was to the top-seeded Seahawks.
It’s truly a disgrace that this complete sack of crap Panthers team gets to host a playoff game, but no matter. If the Rams regain a sense of dominance and can start hot, Bryce Young and company will be no match whatsoever.
Learn from past mistakes, and L.A. should advance to the Divisional Round with ease. And of course, by past mistakes, we mean you Stafford, so for the love of all things holy, keep the stupid mistakes to a minimum, please.
You’ll never live it down if you lose to this team again.
The Bad
Turd quarter
The Rams went into halftime with a 10-point advantage, 16-6. Following the break, the defense gave up back-to-back touchdown passes from Jacoby Brissett to go ahead 20-16.
Up until Stafford’s 21-yard touchdown pass to Parkinson with 42 seconds left in the third quarter, the entire team appeared oddly out of sync.
L.A. amassed -6 yards of offense before the six-play, 70-yard drive to end the frame. Arizona managed to get back into the game with 149 yards on 15 plays during those touchdown drives.
The offense slogged through much of the quarter, and the defense was horrendous before both sides of the ball got back on track and finished strong.
Hopefully, this isn’t restarting the team’s early-season trend of failing to play a complete game. The Rams were considered the league’s best team for a time, as they were dominating the opposition from start to finish.
We haven’t seen much of that team consistently in weeks, so Saturday afternoon in Charlotte will be a good time to revisit old habits.
The Ugly
None
There were some bad moments for sure, but nothing overly ugly in this one. That should be considered a good thing with little to tweak ahead of Wild Card Weekend.
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