Cardinals stun Rams 18-16 as Ryland kicks six field goals
Web StoryWatch this story in 15 seconds →Key takeaways
- The Arizona Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Rams 18-16 on Sunday in Week 6.
- Chad Ryland kicked six field goals. The last one won the game as time ran out.
- The win ended a four-game losing run for Arizona and left both teams at 2-4.
The Arizona Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Rams 18-16 on Sunday. Kicker Chad Ryland scored all 18 points for Arizona. His last kick won the game as time ran out.
The game took place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. It was a Week 6 game in the NFL. The NFL is the top pro football league in the United States.
Arizona came in as a big underdog. FOX Sports called the win the biggest upset of the NFL season so far. The Rams had been one of the favorites to reach the Super Bowl.
Searches for the game rose fast on Sunday. Fans wanted the score. They wanted to know how Arizona pulled off the upset.
This article explains the game in plain words.
What happened
The game started slow. Both teams traded field goals in the first quarter. A field goal is worth three points.
The kicker boots the ball through the tall posts.
Rams kicker Blake Grupe opened the scoring. He kicked a 44-yard field goal. Ryland answered with a 34-yard kick.
The score stood at 3-3.
Ryland then kicked a 30-yard field goal in the second quarter. Arizona led 6-3. The Rams answered with the first touchdown of the game. A touchdown is worth six points.
It is the main way to score in football.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Blake Corum. Stafford is the Rams' quarterback. The quarterback throws the ball to his team-mates.
The Rams tried for two extra points after the score. A two-point try adds two points after a touchdown. Stafford was sacked on the try.
A sack is when a defender tackles the quarterback behind the line. The Rams led 9-6.
Ryland tied the game before half-time. He kicked a 22-yard field goal. The score stood at 9-9 at the break.
The Rams had barely 100 yards of offense by half-time, according to NBC Sports. Yards measure how far a team moves the ball. The Cardinals defense kept the Rams in check all day.
Ryland kept Arizona in front in the second half. He kicked a 38-yard field goal in the third quarter. Arizona led 12-9. He added a 27-yard kick in the fourth quarter.
Arizona led 15-9.
The Rams then made their move. Stafford led a late drive down the field. Wide receiver Puka Nacua caught a 42-yard pass on the drive, according to ESPN.
A wide receiver catches passes from the quarterback.
With 47 seconds left, Stafford threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Colby Parkinson. The Rams led 16-15. There was one problem. The Rams kicker was hurt.
The punter had to kick
Grupe hurt his knee early in the game. He got hurt while making a tackle on a kickoff. A kickoff is the kick that restarts play after a score.
Grupe did not return.
So the Rams turned to their punter. A punter normally kicks the ball away to the other team. Punter Ethan Evans kicked the extra point.
An extra point is worth one point after a touchdown.
Evans made the kick. The Rams led 16-15 with 47 seconds left. The game looked won.
But 47 seconds was too much time to leave.
Arizona got the ball back. Quarterback Jacoby Brissett threw a 21-yard pass to Jalen Brooks. The Rams were then called for a penalty.
A penalty is a rule break that costs a team yards.
The call was unnecessary roughness. It cost the Rams 15 more yards. The penalty put Arizona in clear field goal range.
A few plays later, Ryland lined up for the winner.
He kicked a 43-yard field goal as time expired. The kick sailed through the posts. Arizona won 18-16. The Cardinals players ran onto the field to celebrate.
The numbers behind the win
Ryland kicked six field goals in the game. His kicks came from 34, 30, 22, 38, 27, and 43 yards. No Arizona player scored a touchdown.
Arizona went 0-for-6 in the red zone, according to Touchdown Wire.
The red zone is the last 20 yards before the goal line. Teams expect to score touchdowns from there. Arizona could not.
Ryland's foot saved the day anyway.
Brissett finished 24 of 35 passes for 218 yards, according to NBC Sports. He threw one interception. An interception is a pass caught by the other team.
Stafford finished 25 of 33 passes for 222 yards. He threw two touchdown passes. Nacua caught six passes for 80 yards.
Trey McBride led Arizona with seven catches for 53 yards. Davante Adams caught three passes for 39 yards for the Rams. He left the field late with what looked like a leg injury, according to NBC Sports.
Arizona held the ball far longer than Los Angeles. The Cardinals had the ball for 34 minutes and 52 seconds. The Rams had it for 25 minutes and 8 seconds, according to NBC Sports.
Arizona also gained more yards in total. The Cardinals finished with 338 yards of offense. The Rams finished with 286 yards, according to Reuters.
In another Week 6 game, the Bears beat the Falcons 31-23. The Texans beat the Jaguars 34-31 in London.
Why it matters
The win ended a run of bad results for Arizona. The Cardinals had lost four games in a row. They had also lost eight straight games against teams in their own division, according to Cards Wire.
A division is a small group of teams that play each other each year. The Cardinals and Rams share the NFC West division. The win also ended a three-game losing run against the Rams.
It was Brissett's first game-winning drive in 18 starts for Arizona, according to Cards Wire. A game-winning drive is the final push that wins the game. Brissett had waited a long time for one.
Arizona never trailed in the second half. The Cardinals never fell behind by more than three points all game. They stayed calm and took their chances.
The loss hurt the Rams. NBC Sports called the Rams a Super Bowl favorite at the start of the season. The Rams have now lost three of their last four games, according to ESPN.
The Rams also lost to a team they used to beat with ease. The Rams had owned this match-up. They had beaten Arizona 16 times in 19 meetings under coach Sean McVay, according to ESPN.
That run is now over.
The game also had a fun side note. New Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur won his first meeting with his old boss, according to ESPN. LaFleur had been McVay's offensive coordinator for the past three seasons.
An offensive coordinator runs the team's attack.
What happens next
Both teams now hold a 2-4 record. Two wins and four losses each. The season is far from over.
But neither team can afford many more slip-ups.
Arizona also has a strange claim now. The Cardinals have two wins this season. Both came at SoFi Stadium.
They beat the Chargers there in Week 1. Now they have beaten the Rams there too, according to Reuters.
The Cardinals play at home next. They host the Denver Broncos in Week 7, according to NBC Sports. A home win would give Arizona real hope again.
The Rams go on the road. They travel to Las Vegas to play the Raiders next weekend, according to NBC Sports. The Rams need a win to stop the slide.
Ryland will be the name to watch. Kickers rarely win games on their own. On Sunday, one kicker did.
If he keeps this form, Arizona will stay in games. The Rams must fix their late-game problems fast, or their season will slip away.
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