CARDS 23 - RAMS 20.
The Setup
The Bottom Line
The Lede
Game Recap
Game Stats
Bright Spots
The Dark Side
Last Word

The Setup
"Cards had come from behind to win the first game of the home-in-home in Glendale 19 - 13 off a 99 yard punt return by Patrick Peterson.  Rams lost last week to the Seahawks 24 - 7. Cards lost to the Niners 23 - 7.  Cards are 3 & 7. Rams are 2 & 8 so don't expect the StL home crowd to be especially loud or vocal. With the playoffs all but unreachable, I expected both teams to focus on finding ways for each offensive, defensive or special teams unit to play better.."

The Lede:
You'd never know it from the way the first quarter started out, but we won...on the road...breaking two records - Beanie Wells' 226+ rushing yards is now the most in Cardinal history. And another Patrick Peterson's punt return TD; his fourth, which elevates him into a 4-way tie for most punt returns in a season (with such legends as Devon Hester)

The Bottom Line:
The Cardinals fell behind early, caught up early in the second half, gave up a TD to tie the game and then road the backs of its runners to get close enough to kick the game-winning FG. Our defense came through again - pretty much containing John Skelton, picking up timely sacks of Bradford and, with one exception, keeping the Rams out of the end zone despite giveaway after Cardinal giveaway. Cards are now 4 & 7.

1st Quarter

• Rams eceived. Touchback. Rams fed us 5 straight running plays featuring Steven Jackson (including one for +19), but had to punt from the Ram 40. OOB on the Cardinal 27. Three straight running plays, an incompletion and a sack (Skelton didn't have a chance). We punted from our own 33 and this StL dude (who til three days ago was sitting on his couch in, of all places, AZ) returned the punt 88 yards for a Ram TD. (I couldn't help but wonder out loud: "Is this going to be another one of 'those days'?")   Rams 7 - Cards 0.

• The Howler returned the KO to the Cardinal 21. Three plays later, Skelton (who was wild-high under pressure early) overthrew Fitz. Rod Hood (remember him?) intercepted the ball and returned it the Cardinal 31. (Yup - one of those days)...but no-o-o! On the third play of the Ram possession, Sam Acho came around the weakside corner and sacked Bradford, forcing a fumble. Paris Lenon recovered it. Cards ball on their own 24 (Bullet dodged). Three plays (including a Peterson fumble as deep guy in the Wildcat) and out. Punt from the Cardinal 24 was OOB at the StL 25. They started the series with a false start penalty which helped cause a 3 & out. Punt was returned to the AZ 19. Skelton was sacked on the first play, but on the very next play, Beanie Wells broke a long one for +71-yards. Cards  couldn't punch it in from the 11 and had to settle for a 29-yard Feely FG.  Rams 7 - Cards 0.

• Rams returned the KO to their own 24 and ran off one 2-yard gain to end the quarter 1st Quarter Score: Rams 7 - Cards 3.

2nd Quarter

• A penalty helped stall the Rams at their own 26. Their punt coupled with a holding call on Marshall put the ball on our own 12. Runs for +12 and +8 by Wells and A Smith got us out to the Ram 47 where the drive stalled and we punted. Fair catch at the Ram 10. After a couple of Jackson runs netted a 1st down, the Rams went nowhere and punted. Peterson returned it 16-yards to the Cardinal 35. On the Cardinal possession penalty on Hood nullified a Skelton sack, but the Cards could get no further than the StL 39. Punt went into the end zone (net shift in field position: 19 whole yards). 3:52 left in the half. Bradford led his team on an 11-play drive capped by a Josh Brown 35-yarder with 0:07 left on the clock. It's a one-TD game again. Halftime Score: Rams 10 - Cards 3.

3rd Quarter

• The 2H KO went for a touchback. First three plays were runs by Beanie. The fourth play was a 41-yard completion to Fitz (whom Skelton had missed 4-times til then). Two flags on Hadnot - one for holding/the other a false start - helped derail the drive and force the Cards to settle for a Feely 37-yarder. . Rams 10 - Cardinals 6.

• KO was returned to the Ram 27. On the 3rd play from scrimmage, Kendricks, after a completion, was hit by Dockett and fumbled. Acho (once again the man of the hour) recovered it on the StL 28. On the third play from scrimmage (3rd & 13 at the Ram 31), Skelton scrambled fo +13 to pick up the first down. Then it was Wells for +7, Wells for +4 and Wells for +7 and a TD. (Well played)!  Cardinals 13 - Rams 10.

•  A penalty on the KO pushed the Rams back to their own 10. After an 11-yard Jackson gain, the Rams (undermined by another penalty) were eventually forced to punt from their own 25. Jones punted close enough to Peterson so that he could snag it at the 20 below knee level on the fly. Bad career move - Peterson caught it on the run, headed due north and ran for 80-yards and a score. (Great way to quiet an enemy crowd). Cardinals 20 - Rams 10.

• Rams returned the KO to their own 21. A 35-yard completion to Pettis helped get them to the Cardinal 30 as the quarter ended.  3rd Quarter Score: Cardinals 20 - Rams 10.   

4th Quarter

Bright Spots

• Our ground yardage.

• Beanie. Not only did his 228-yards break the franchise record, he repeatedly played through pain, lugging the leather 27 times.

• What more can you say about PP21 - ties a league record for punt return TD's while still a rookie and with 6 games still left to play..

• Sam Acho (2 sacks and a fumble recovery) had a huge day, and our other young LB's - Washington and Schofield - continue to make names for themselves.

• You have to give credit to our O-line for opening up those holes for Beanie and LSH. Nice to see Heap back at TE.

• The entire Cardinal defense kept us close enough to allow a few breaks and a small number of key plays on offense and defense to steal us another "W."

• Skelton didn't get permanently flattened

The Dark Side

• Pass blocking - I'm not sure whether the main problem is that our O-linemen aren't physically up to the task or whether a bunch of 300+ knuckleheads are having difficulty knowing which guysthey're supposed block. Or whether Skelton is bad at presnap reads or isn't allowed (or doesn't  know how) to  check down out of the original play.. Whatever the reason, there were at least 4 or 5 times where Ram pass rushers beat Skelton to the point to where he was supposed to release the ball..

• Corner - Our youngsters should be farther on the learning curve than they appear to be.

• Skelton (see earlier comments) doesn't seem to be always in command of what's going on out there. Every pass attempt seems to be an adventure. Granted, he's facing constant pressure from opposing pass rushers, but there has to be a point in his development where he automatically know who his hot receivers are or that an odd-man blitzing means that someone else has to be open.

Last Word:
We won. We ran the ball. Two of our guys (Beanie and Peterson) set impressive records for performance. Our rookie OLB (Acho) is playing the way OLB's are expected to perform. It's a start. Onward to the Cowboys!!!!