The Rams were supposed to be the closest thing the NFL had seen to a superteam in some time. Instead, they’re 2-4, have lost three of their last four games and are last in the NFC West. So much has gone awry, so quickly.
Sunday was rock bottom (for now). The Rams lost to the division’s ugly stepchild, the Cardinals – a team they had beaten in 16 of their last 19 meetings – on a day when Arizona didn’t manage to score a touchdown. They didn’t need to, because Arizona kicker Chad Ryland connected on six field goal attempts, the last one a 43-yarder as time expired. The game was a tale of two kickers, in that the Cardinals had a superb one and the Rams didn’t have one at all. Days after releasing Harrison Mevis following a league-worst four misses in the season’s first five weeks, the Rams came into this game with Blake Grupe, whom they’d plucked off the Jets practice squad. Grupe got hurt covering a kickoff return in the first quarter, leaving the Rams literally kickerless for the duration. (Mevis, a big fella whose nickname is the Thick Kicker, or “Thiccer,” has about 80lbs on the 5ft 7in Grupe.)
The absence of a specialist kicker affected the game. The Rams tried for a two-point conversion after a touchdown in the second quarter, preferring not to have punter Ethan Evans attempt a point after. The Cardinals sacked Matthew Stafford, and the attempt failed. In the third quarter, the Rams faced a fourth-and-one at the Arizona 27-yard line, in what would normally be easy field-goal range. (Of course, Sean McVay may have gone for it anyway in such a spot.) Unable to even consider a kick here, the Rams pushed up the middle and were stacked up at the line for a turnover on downs. Arizona drove the other way for three points.
Sean McVay’s bunch could have won anyway. When the Rams tied the game with 42 seconds left, McVay did sound out his punter, Evans, who nailed his PAT, suggesting maybe he was more reliable as a kicker than his coach believed. But then the Rams’ defense had a meltdown, taking an unnecessary roughness flag and allowing Jacoby Brissett to quickly march Arizona 40 yards to set up Ryland’s winner. Final score: 18-16 to Arizona, an utter disaster for the home team.
A bit of everything has gone wrong. Prized defensive end Myles Garrett, the best defensive player in the world, is yet to return as he rehabs from knee surgery. Future Hall of Fame defensive tackle Aaron Donald came out of a years-long retirement and has looked, well, like a man who has come out of a years-long retirement. The Rams had a solid performance against the run in this game but entered it having given up the sixth-most ground yards in football.
Meanwhile, Stafford has only looked like his MVP self in one game all year, a Week 2 romp over the very meh Giants. Despite facing less pressure than any other QB in the league, per Sports Reference, Stafford has not been able to make his usual magic. Part of it is that he’s been rushing to get the ball out quickly; his 2.2-second average time to throw is his quickest rate on record. Puka Nacua has only played in four games, and Davante Adams, who has served as the No 1 wideout in his absence, left Sunday’s game with a suspected knee injury. Things feel like they’re falling apart rapidly for a team expected to compete for the Super Bowl.
There is not much good news for the Rams, but there is this: The Chargers moved to 0-6 with a loss to the Chiefs, meaning the Rams still comfortably have the best record of a team based at SoFi Stadium. The two Angeleno clubs face each other in two weeks. That matchup will not be for the faint of heart.
MVP of the week
CJ Stroud, quarterback, Houston Texans. The 25-year-old had his best game of the season in a 34-31 shootout win over the Jaguars in London, as Houstonians watched early in the morning. Stroud led a game-winning field goal drive after Jacksonville’s rocket-legged kicker, Cam Little, tied things up late with a 60-yard field goal. The winning drive was a fitting capper for Stroud, who threw an interception but was usually steady, and mixed in more of the sizzle that had come with the steak early in his career. Stroud finished 24-of-34 for 312 yards and three scores and didn’t take a sack. His best work came in tandem with receiver Jaylin Noel, who had a 50-yard catch to set up a critical Houston TD just before half-time. Noel also caught a touchdown. Newly acquired wideout Marvin Harrison Jr caught three of his four targets for 34 yards.
Stat of the week
45. The previously winless Titans ran that many plays in their 26-20 win over the moribund Colts, who fell to 2-4 and strayed even further from relevance under head coach Shane Steichen and GM Chris Ballard. It’s the fewest plays a winning team has run all season, three behind the 48 the Seahawks had in their season-opening Super Bowl rematch against the Patriots. It’s not as if the Titans did all that much with those offensive snaps, either. Cam Ward needed 22 throws to reach a whopping 102 yards but still outplayed Daniel “Dimes” Jones, who took six sacks and threw two picks. A blocked punt keyed the comeback, and rookie wideout Carnell Tate, the No 4 pick in this year’s draft, caught his first career touchdown. Tennessee had lost a mesmerizing 11 in a row in the division. Poor Jonathan Taylor: the supremely talented running back deserves better than playing on a team like the Colts.
Video of the week
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Dallas Goedert was just minding his business, running a corner route against the Panthers, when his business became our business. Carolina cornerback Will Lee III struggled to stay with the Eagles veteran and resorted to a particular brand of grabbiness. Lee, exposed by the route Goedert had run, decided to expose the tight end in a different way. A defensive pass interference call gave the Eagles a first down, but it wasn’t enough to save them in what became a 25-14 home loss. The Birds lost their fourth in a row and continue to reel in an NFC East that somebody is going to have to win.
Elsewhere around the league
— Caleb Williams looks fine. The Bears’ franchise QB returned from a right hamstring strain that had kept him out since Week 2, and he led Chicago to a 31-23 win over the Falcons. Williams didn’t throw an incomplete pass until his 13th attempt of the game, three minutes into the second quarter, and completed 30 of his 36 throws for 305 yards and a touchdown. It wasn’t entirely peaches and cream, as the four sacks Williams took were his most in a game since a September 2025 loss to the Bears. But in general, he was comfortable with the speed of the game and kept the Bears on track despite a run game that never took off.
— The Steelers are doing it again, and by “it,” I mean “contending in the AFC North despite being deeply unpleasant to watch.” Pittsburgh came back from 13-0 down to beat the woeful Buccaneers in Tampa, 26-19, and move to 4-2. Combined with the Browns’ buzzer-beating win over the Ravens, that result left all three of those teams tied atop the division with the Bengals (on bye) just a half-game behind. Aaron Rodgers looked as athletic as a 58-year-old uncle, taking five sacks and throwing a pick on a screen pass. The Steelers cartoonishly squandered a first-and-goal at the three-yard line after the Bucs’ rookie backup, Jalon Daniels, threw an interception to former Buc Jamel Dean late in the fourth quarter. But after settling for three on that series and allowing Daniels to lead a game-tying drive, Pittsburgh got things under control in overtime. Rodgers also tied Peyton Manning for third on the all-time passing touchdown list (539). Rodgers won’t catch the two men ahead of him: Drew Brees (571) and Tom Brady (649), but the fact that he got this far is a testament to his skill and longevity. In another blast from the past, Pittsburgh’s Jalen Ramsey had two sacks, including the game-ender in OT. Can I interest anyone in the Steel City in a 10-7 record and a home wildcard defeat?
— One team who are extremely pleasant to watch? The Bills, who moved to 5-1 with a 33-30 win in Las Vegas. Josh Allen didn’t have an overwhelming statistical day but produced one of the more magical moments of his career. On a third-and-8 in the red zone in a one-score game, Allen meandered through traffic in the backfield for a full six seconds before casually flicking a backhanded looper over six Raiders (five near him, one in the secondary) and into the waiting arms of Keon Coleman for a touchdown. The video speaks for itself. What a player.
