Arizona Cardinals: The Good, bad, ugly vs Los Angeles Rams

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GLENDALE, AZ – DECEMBER 03: Wide receiver Sammy Watkins #12 of the Los Angeles Rams reacts with teammates after scoring a third quarter touchdown during the NFL game against the Arizona Cardinals at the University of Phoenix Stadium on December 3, 2017 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

The Ugly

Special Teams

Oh, look who’s back in this category. Welcome back your Arizona Cardinals special teams. After looking like they were a real NFL unit for a couple of weeks, they returned to their usual selves.

A blocked extra point and a blocked field goal were just the start. The Cardinals were not getting any bounces. An Andy Lee punt appeared to be headed for a pin deep inside Rams territory, only to hit the pylon for a touchback.

The Cardinals allowed Johnny Hecker to hit a 70-yard punt, although that was a nice kick by him. But that combined with allowing the Rams Pharoh Cooper to have good kick and punt returns was just too much to take in on Sunday.

Stats do lie

Pretty much every stat you look at from Sunday’s game, the Cardinals were better. The one they weren’t? That would be turnovers. They lost that battle two to one.

The Cardinals ran more plays (62-56), had more yards (312-303), better third down conversion rate (7-15 vs 3-11), more time of possession (31:02 vs 28:58), fewer penalties (4-25 vs 7-36), and first downs (19 vs 18).

Just looking at that there’s no way the Cardinals lost by 16 not knowing the score. But they did. Their mistakes were plentiful. Stalled drives, turnovers, sacks, and bad decisions were costly once again.

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