1-Man’s Opinion on Sports-Tuesday “Rams-Cardinals–Relentless Football”

Posted by on December 14th, 2021  •  0 Comments  • 

Monday Night Football–Relentless”

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It looked, felt, sounded like an NFL playoff game and it was early December.

The Rams and Cardinals spent the night chasing quarterbacks, hitting big plays, and just giving no quarter whatsoever.

When LA and Arizona got done, I don’t think you could find anyone to argue  that Dallas or Tampa or Green Bay,  were better than these two.

Pick a hero, they were everywhere, wearing Rams horns or sporting Cardinal Red.

One minute you saw why the Rams traded two number one picks and a QB they didn’t want (Jared Goff) to get Matthew Stafford.  He was throwing darts all night, staying in there taking shots, and making plays down the field.  The roll out to the right and 55-yard bomb across the field to Cooper Kupp was amazing.

And Kupp is amazing himself.  On a depleted wide receiver group, everyone knows where the ball is going and they still cannot stop him, as he blew by the 100-catch season.

Odell Beckham and Van Jefferson are complimentary players but playmakers too.  And ex Patriot Sonny Michel chewed up huge yardage for the second week in a row when they needed it most.

On the defensive side, Aaron Donald played like a man possessed, and so did the rest on the LA side.  Two interceptions, at the 1 and 19-killed drives.  They chased QB-Kyler Murray all over the field, and yet the Cards QB kept coming back with big plays to his cachet of pass catchers.  Donald’s 3-sacks were difference makers.

Arizona put on a show, even when it looked like they would not climb out of a hole.  All those missed scoring opportunities going for scores deep in Rams territory.

Murray is not a one man gang, but he is so explosive, so dangerous, throw and run, keeping plays alive to keep drives alive.  As dangerous as nitro glycerine.

Pick a receiver or a tight end and they caught balls.

Pickout RB-James Conner, the ex Steeler, having a career season, and you can see how diverse and dangerous Arizona is.

But Arizona hurt itself, not just with the picks, but failing twice to convert on 4th downs in LA territory.  They left alot of points on the field

The Cardinals defense is pretty dynamic, and think what they’d be if Chandler Jones or JJ Watt were part of this group.

Hell even the kickers put on a show.  Matt Gay rammed a 55-yard field goal.  Old dog Matt Prater had 49. 50-and-53 yard shots

When it was over the Rams had enough resolve, despite being shorthanded with Covid issues, to win the game.

A signature win for the Rams.  For the Cardinals, a loss, that pulls them back towards the pack.  LA is (9-4).  Arizona is now (10-3).

The stats were staggering:  Murray finished with (374Y) passing, but the picks and 4-sacks killed them. AJ Green had 7-catches for 102.  Stafford went for (287) and 3TDs.  Kupp ran people ragged with 13-catches for 123-yards.

Someone has to explain how Arizona could be (7-0) on the road, but now (3-3) at home, and that is strange.

And a message for the other powers in NFC, Tom Brady and Tampa, and Dak Prescott in Dallas, and Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay…these NFC playoff games will be a war.

Relentless, who these teams have become.  Fearless the way these QBs played.  Frantic, the 60-minutes of football we saw.

When do the NFC playoffs begin?

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