GLENDALE, Ariz. — Sean McVay, Jared Goff and the Los Angeles Rams continue to have their way with the Arizona Cardinals. The Rams picked up their seventh straight win against the Cardinals on Sunday with a 38-28 victory at State Farm Stadium.
With the loss, the Cardinals now move to .500 on the year at 6-6 and are now tied with the Minnesota Vikings for the third Wild Card spot in the NFL Playoffs with four games left to play.
Meanwhile, the Rams moved to 8-4 and now own the top spot in the NFC West.
The Cardinals were off to a hot start when on their opening possession, Kyler Murray found Dan Arnold wide open for a 59-yard touchdown to make it 7-0 early.
The Rams wouldn't answer until the second quarter when Cam Akers rushed for a 9-yard score to tie the game.
The Rams took a 14-7 lead into the half.
On the opening possession of the third quarter, the Rams kicked a 39-yard field goal to make it 17-7.
On the ensuing the drive, the Cardinals made the decision to go for it on 4th down and 12 and it paid off, Murray finding KeeSean Johnson for the first down.
On 3rd and goal, Murray would find DeAndre Hopkins for a touchdown to make it a three point game, 17-14.
The Rams would march methodically down the field on their next drive and cap it off with a touchdown to make it 24-14.
On the Cardinals next drive, they were forced to punt from their own 35-yard line, but the Rams muffed the punt and the Cardinals recovered the fumble, setting up a Kenyan Drake touchdown run.
The momentum looked like it was shifting Arizona's way, as they brought it within three points again, 24-21.
But, after allowing a first down on third and long, the Cardinals defense was gashed by the Rams, the drive ending with a 38-yard Darrell Henderson touchdown rush.
The Rams now had the lead 31-21 with just over 10 minutes left to play and things would unravel for Arizona.
On the following drive, Kyler Murray was stripped while scrambling and fumbled the ball away to Los Angeles, giving the Rams the ball in Cardinals territory with seven minutes to go.
But, the Rams missed a field goal to extend the lead, giving Arizona the ball back with five minutes to go.
On 3rd and 9, Murray was picked off and it was returned for a touchdown, putting the game on ice for Los Angeles, up 38-21 with four and a half to go.
The Cardinals quickly moved down the field on the next drive, getting inside the 5-yard line with just over two minutes to go, where they found run into some questionable game management in terms of timeouts and playcalling.
On 4th and goal, the Cardinals would score a touchdown though, with Murray finding Dan Arnold again, making it 38-28 with just over two minutes to play.
The Rams would put the game on ice and take home the win.
Jared Goff finished with 351 passing yards with a passing and rushing touchdown.
Kyler Murray had173 yards passing with three touchdowns, and interception and a fumble lost. DeAndre Hopkins caught eight passes on 13 targets for just 52 yards.
The Cardinals take on the Giants in New York next week, who defeated the Seattle Seahawks on the road on Sunday.
