Associated Press
To prepare for the playoffs, the Los Angeles Rams dressed their starters for a relatively meaningless regular-season finale against an opponent that hadn’t won in two months.
However, the Rams didn't appear ready for this modest test; they found themselves trailing the Arizona Cardinals late in the third quarter on Sunday. It was at this point that the Rams made a dynamic late surge, one they hope to replicate on a larger scale during the upcoming weeks.
“It was what needed to happen,” Matthew Stafford said. “We kind of put our minds to it.”
Stafford passed for 259 yards and threw two of his four touchdown passes to Colby Parkinson. The Rams rallied to secure the No. 5 seed in the NFC playoffs with a 37-20 victory.
Tyler Higbee returned from injury to catch five passes for 91 yards, including a key touchdown in the fourth quarter for the Rams (12-5). They will visit the NFC South champion Carolina Panthers (8-9) in the wild-card round.
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Puka Nacua made a spectacular one-handed TD catch shortly before halftime, finishing with 10 receptions for 76 yards. The Rams snapped a two-game losing streak, despite taking a considerable amount of time to seize control. They did not return to top form, making significant mistakes on defense and special teams yet again, but Stafford's offense engineered three consecutive touchdown drives to avoid any embarrassment ahead of the more critical playoff games.
The Rams clinched their third straight playoff berth last month but lost the opportunity for the No. 1 overall seed, suffering road defeats against Seattle and Atlanta in their last two games. Now, the Rams need to win in Charlotte, where they previously lost 31-28 on November 30.
“I like where we’re at right now,” McVay said. “Now we move forward, and we have a great opportunity to go to Carolina and see what we can do.”
Stafford passed Dan Marino to move into seventh place on the NFL’s career touchdown passes list, finishing his MVP-caliber season leading the NFL with 4,707 passing yards and 46 TDs— the second-most in league history by a quarterback aged 37 or older.
“I felt like I had a nice season, and I’m really proud of our team,” Stafford said. “It’s an award that’s earned by everybody, but I have bigger things to focus on right now.”
Jacoby Brissett passed for 243 yards and connected with Michael Wilson for a 43-yard touchdown pass in the second half for Arizona, which posed a challenge for the Rams despite finishing coach Jonathan Gannon’s third season with nine consecutive losses and 14 of 15.
“We’re gonna keep swinging, man,” Gannon said. “Everyone in there has faced tough times in their careers, and I was glad to see them maximize the last opportunity to play. They’re not going to be happy watching these playoff games, but we did that to ourselves, and it starts with me.”
Gannon's record dropped to 15-36. He acknowledged that significant changes are likely for the Cardinals but refrained from speculating on his own future.
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Trey McBride made seven catches, extending his NFL single-season record for a tight end to 126 receptions. The Cardinals ended the season with 14 losses— a first for a franchise that started in Chicago in 1920.
Josiah Deguara caught a go-ahead touchdown pass in the third quarter from Brissett, who started the last 12 games after Kyler Murray was sidelined by a foot injury. The future of the former No. 1 pick is also uncertain in Phoenix.
“Obviously, we came up a little short, but I’m sure the Rams thought they’d walk in here and roll us as they prepared for the playoffs,” Brissett said. “We gave them a real challenge. The guys came out and battled.”
Indeed, the Rams didn’t find their urgency in the final regular-season game until deep in the second half.
The Cardinals came alive after halftime with two electrifying plays: Emari Demercado caught a 28-yard pass from punter Matt Haack on a fourth down fake from the Arizona 29, immediately followed by Wilson’s touchdown catch. Wilson finished with 99 receiving yards, surpassing 1,000 yards for the first time in his career.
Arizona mounted a steady 76-yard drive shortly thereafter, capped by Deguara’s first touchdown catch since 2021, which sparked discontent among Los Angeles fans in SoFi Stadium.
But Stafford and the Rams responded quickly, driving down the field for Parkinson's 21-yard catch-and-run score, followed five minutes later by Higbee's touchdown, marking his first catch since November 2 after a six-game absence due to injury.
Parkinson added a 1-yard touchdown catch with 4:15 left to play.own catch with 4:15 left to play.own catch with 4:15 left to play.dded a 1-yard touchdown catch with 4:15 left to play.
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