Rams on the brink of playoff spot after win over Cardinals

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — With a 13-9 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday night, the Los Angeles Rams put themselves on the verge of clinching a playoff spot and winning the NFC West.

The Rams entered the day needing a win against the Cardinals and 3.5 or more wins by any of the Vikings, Bills, 49ers, Bengals and Browns to win the strength-of-victory tiebreaker over the Seattle Seahawks. Los Angeles got help earlier Saturday when the Bengals beat the Broncos for one of those wins.

Los Angeles (10-6) hosts second-place Seattle in Week 18 in what could be a meaningless game if the Rams win the tiebreaker before the end of this weekend.

The Rams are currently No. 3 in the NFC, 1.5 games ahead of the Atlanta Falcons entering Sunday’s slate.

Here are the key takeaways from Saturday night for both teams:

Describe the game in two words: Scoring matches. In the three games since scoring a season-high 44 points against the Bills in Week 14, the Rams have failed to break the 20-point mark. But the Rams have won all three of those games, including Saturday’s.

Prediction for next week: If the Rams clinch a playoff spot this weekend, their key starters won’t play in Week 18, even though the No. The 3 seed is up for grabs. And there is precedent. A year ago, Rams backup quarterback Carson Wentz started in Week 18 with playoff seeding in play.

Disturbing trend: Slow starts continue to be a problem for the Rams’ offense, which has now gone 13 games without scoring a touchdown in the first quarter this season. Los Angeles has also gone 11 games without scoring at all in the first quarter, the second-worst mark in the NFL, according to ESPN Research.— Sarah Barshop

Next game: vs. Seahawks (Sunday, January 5)

The Cardinals couldn’t play spoiler for the Rams, but they did get tight end Trey McBride his first receiving touchdown of the season.

It was the highlight for a team already eliminated from playoff contention that entered the game with two hopes: Make the Rams’ path to the playoffs more difficult and try to find something — or something — to build on toward 2025.

Losing running back James Conner to a knee injury early in the second quarter didn’t help any of Arizona’s causes. However, quarterback Kyler Murray did his part to keep Arizona in the game. He ran four times for 32 yards and threw 48 times for 321 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions, putting a team with little to play for on his shoulders as long as he could.

Despite not hitting double figures in points, Arizona saw its passing game flourish with Murray throwing for 300 yards for the second time this season, McBride breaking 100 yards for the third time, and Marvin Harrison Jr. finished with 96 yards.

QB breakdown: The result may not reflect it, but Murray was on point. In the third quarter, he completed 13 passes. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford completed 11 passes in the first three quarters. Murray completed 33-of-48 passes.

Disturbing trend: The Rams have figured out how to get to Murray throughout his career, and their success continued Saturday night. They sacked Murray four times, bringing their total to 28 sacks in 10 games against him. The Rams’ average of 2.8 sacks per game against Murray is higher than his overall career average of 2.2 sacks per game. match. Only the Seahawks have sacked him more (32 times).

Notable Stats: McBride finally got into the end zone with a receiving touchdown on his 98th catch of the year, but that was after setting an NFL record. His 97 catches before his first touchdown reception of the season are now the most in NFL history. The previous high was 92 by Keyshawn Johnson in 2001. — Josh Weinfuss

Next game: vs. 49ers (Sunday, January 5)