The Arizona Cardinals are 2-13 against the Sean McVay coached Los Angeles Rams.
Jonathan Gannon is 0-2 against them.
The Cardinals have not defeated the Rams in Arizona since 2014 — a game in which QB Carson Palmer tore his ACL and Drew Stanton came off the bench to secure a win in a once promising season that went off the rails after Palmer’s loss. Since then, LA has won nine straight in Arizona.
It’s not like things have been so much better on the road. The sting of that 34-11 postseason beatdown in 2022 is probably still fresh in many Cardinals fans’ minds, and let’s be blunt, Phoenix has never really liked LA anyway.
With all of that baggage in tow, you’d assume that Gannon would be feeling a little more juice with an arch-rival coming to State Farm Stadium on Sunday and both teams trying to avoid an 0-2 start, right?
“Every game is so important to me, but I do think it starts with you’ve got to compete and win division games,” Gannon said in a promising start to our hoped-for rivalry narrative.
“Do I think it’s a rivalry? No, I don’t. They’re all equally important. This is a good football team that’s coming into our house and we’ve got to play well to win the game so that’s kind of my sole focus.”
And then Gannon thought about it some more.
“I just don’t feel like it’s Louisville-Kentucky, Ohio State-Michigan,” he said. “I never got into the rivalry deal. Leave that for the fans.”
These aren’t your Darrell Dockett-led Cardinals.
There was a time when Cardinals players would profess their hatred for their NFC West rivals. In fact, Dockett once told me: “I really (expletive) hate them.”
Whether it was schtick or true feelings, the players said those emotions helped them take it up another notch in matchups that represented two-game swings in the division standings.
Now?
“I’m kind of in the same boat as JG,” offensive lineman Will Hernandez said. “There’s no game that we ever go into like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna go harder this game because of this or that.’ At the end of the day, the team that stands in front of us is the team that we’re gonna go all out against. Division games are obviously important, but that’s as far as it goes.”
So much for our narrative.
We even tried coaxing something out of the always quotable Roy Lopez.
“Rosters change so much from year to year,” the Cardinals defensive lineman said. “In college, you have your rivalries that go back 30, 50, 60 years, and guys go there for four or five years at a time. That’s a rivalry.
“I think more with division games, you just understand that’s how you get into the playoffs is you win your division games. Sure, it adds a little juice, but at the same time, there’s no better feeling to get you pumped than playing football on Sundays. That’s all it takes.”
Here’s the cold, hard truth for the Cardinals. The NFC West has bullied them. Since joining the division in 2002, they do not have a winning record against any of their division opponents, and in those 22 seasons they have only recorded a winning division record seven times. It’s no coincidence that they won their only three NFC West titles (2008, 2009, 2015) in three of those seasons, and finished second three more times.
Over the past five seasons the picture is bleak. Arizona is 8-22 against its NFC brethren over that stretch, including an 0-6 mark last season in Gannon’s first year at the helm.
Before Pete Carroll and the Seahawks parted ways in January, this division was loaded with coaching heavyweights.
In 14 seasons in Seattle, Carroll had 11 winning records, five NFC West titles, two NFC championships and a Super Bowl title.
In seven previous seasons in LA, McVay has six winning seasons, three NFC West titles, two NFC titles and a Super Bowl title.
In seven previous seasons in San Francisco, Kyle Shanahan has four winning seasons, three NFC West titles, two NFC titles and the corresponding two Super Bowl appearances.
New Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald and Gannon are trying to assert themselves against their more accomplished peers, but the Cardinals appear more concerned with righting the ship from last week than they do with this Rams rivalry.
3 Keys to a Cardinals victory
Get the vertical passing game going: There has been a lot of talk this week about Marvin Harrison’s quiet performance in Buffalo. The Cardinals can say all they want about the ball going where it’s supposed to go in the offense, but you don’t draft a guy No. 4 overall and then shrug when the defense takes him away. You have to get the ball in the hands of your playmakers.
Harrison has a role in making that happen, and if you read between the lines this week, you came away with the distinct impression that he didn’t do all he could have done to make it happen. That has to change and Harrison isn’t the only one who could use more love.
Although Michael Wilson caught an early 5-yard TD pass in Buffalo, Kyler Murray only targeted him twice. It made sense when the Cardinals were moving the ball in the first half via the short game. It didn’t make sense in the second half when the Bills took that away, although the loss of right tackle Jonah Williams affected what Arizona was able to do.
Pressure: The Rams offensive line has been diminished by injuries and suspension. The Cardinals edge group is trying to shed an unenviable label after posting an alarming pressure rate of 3.5 percent against the Bills. Somehow — whether it’s scheme or individual efforts —the Cardinals have to find a way to get to QB Matthew Stafford.
Stafford won’t hurt the Cardinals with his legs the way Josh Allen did. He is more of a pocket passer, but Gannon and defensive coordinator Nick Rallis noted that he knows how to move within that pocket; to maximize space and time. “It doesn’t phase him if you hit him,” Rallis said. “He’s going to keep sitting in there and slinging the ball.”
In 13 career starts against the Cardinals, Stafford has completed 286 of 441 passes for an average of 247.2 yards with 22 TDs, 10 interceptions and a passer rating of 93.7. The Cardinals have only sacked him 24 times in those 13 games.
Put a lid on Kupp: In 12 career games against the Cardinals, Rams receiver Cooper Kupp has 71 receptions for 815 yards and five TDs. Those are his best numbers against any opponent (although he has faced the Cardinals more than any other team).
Kupp is the healthiest he has been in three seasons and it showed in a 14-catch, 110-yard, one-TD effort in Week 1 against the Lions. With Puka Nacua on injured reserve, he could be an even greater focal point of the offense.
(Getty Images)
Matchup to watch
Rams OLB Byron Young vs. Cardinals RT Kelvin Beachum:
Kelvin Beachum has seen just about everything an offensive linemen can see in a 13-season NFL career. He has been a backup.. He has been a starter. He has seen success. He has seen struggles. He has benefited from the wisdom of veterans and now he is the consummate veteran — a guy whom Gannon has taken to calling “grandpa.”
“I guess you could consider it a badge of honor, but when JG says it in a team meeting it kind of carries some weight,” Beachum said, smiling. “I’ve got kids so I’m nowhere close to being a grandpa. My father is a grandpa. I may get my hair cut on Saturday so you won’t see any gray hairs pretty soon — make sure that it doesn’t carry too much weight for too long.”
Beachum knows that the moniker is meant out of respect because that is what the roster and coaching staff have for the Cardinals’ top swing tackle. Beachum had to jump into the Buffalo game cold after right tackle Jonah Williams went down with a knee injury that landed him on injured reserve with an uncertain timeline for return.
Beachum struggled at times, allowing four pressures and two sacks via Greg Rousseau. But he’s had an entire week to practice with the first team and both he and offensive line coach Klayton Adams acknowledged that makes a difference.
“Knowing that you’re going to play the entire game before the game starts is definitely a different mentality,” Adams said. “Having said that, he’s the pro’s pro, and he’s the guy that you know is going to be able to go in there cold and do some good things, and he was definitely able to do that last week.”
Beachum is filling a critical role for the Cardinals now — especially with tackle Christian Jones also on injured reserve and the team lacking depth. He said knowing he will start helps prepare in a variety of ways.
“It helps the body. It helps the mind, not having to flip plays in your mind and having to flip blocks in your mind; just being able to focus on one side,” he said. “It lends itself to being more comfortable and being able to do the job.”
This week, Beachum will likely face a stiff challenge from Rams linebacker Byron Young, who lined up over right tackle last week against the Lions and recorded a sack. Young had eight sacks last season as a rookie.
“I got a job to do, simple as that. No more, no less,” Beachum said. “I was a pinch hitter, and now I’m the starter. Simple as that. I don’t want to overcomplicate things. In the National Football League, when your numbers are called, you have to find out where to deliver and this week I have the opportunity to go and do that.
“I’ve played every position across the offensive line in the National Football League. I’ve been in this position as a young player. I understand the cycles of playing in the National Football League. You got to get in where you fit in. I found a way to kind of make a career out of this and hope to continue this. This is not the end of the line by any means. This is just another step and another piece of the book that’s been written about my career.”
Final injury report
Quotable
Everyone will be watching to see if Marvin Harrison is a bigger part of the offense than he was in his NFL debut on Sept. 8 in Buffalo.
Harrison was blunt when asked about that one-catch, three-target, four-yard performance against the Bills.
He also admitted that he would have liked to get preseason reps with QB Kyler Murray, but added that he trusted Gannon’s decision to sit both players because health is paramount in the NFL.
Game Notes
- The Cardinals have lost eight straight intra-division games — the longest active streak in the NFL.
- Rams running back Kyren Williams earned second-team All-Pro honors last season and the Cardinals can testify. Williams had 36 carries for 301 yards and a TD in two games against Arizona.
- Kyler Murray should pass Pro Football Hall of Fame QB Kurt Warner (15,843) for the fifth-most passing yards in franchise history on Sunday. Murray needs 35 yards.
- With a TD of any kind, running back James Conner would have at least one TD in seven consecutive games dating to last season. That would tie the franchise record for consecutive games with a TD held by John David Crow (1959-60) and Mal Kutner (1947-48).
- The Cardinals won’t miss Aaron Donald. In 20 games against the Cardinals, he had 16 sacks, 26 tackles for loss and 34 QB hits.
Predictions
Top photo via Getty Images
