INGLEWOOD, Calif. – It took the slimmest of margins, but the Rams (10-6) found a way to hold on for a narrow 13-9 win over the Cardinals (7-9) Saturday night at SoFi Stadium.
Up 13-9 with 2:01 remaining, the Rams watched the Cardinals – armed with two timeouts – drive downfield all the way to the Rams’ 5-yard line. Then cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon corralled Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray’s deflected pass in the endzone for the game-sealing interception, which was upheld upon further review by the officials, allowing the Rams to survive.
Wide receiver Puka Nacua finished with 10 catches for 129 yards in the win, which was achieved despite the Cardinals winning the time of possession battle 36:55-23:05.
Defensive end Braden Fiske finished with two sacks in the win, and outside linebacker Michael Hoecht had his third blocked kick of the season. Running back Kyren Williams had 56 rushing yards and 1 touchdown, while kicker Joshua Karty made his lone field goal attempt (53 yards) and extra point attempt.
With their win over the Cardinals and the Bengals’ win over the Broncos, the Rams can clinch the NFC West in Week 17 via the Strength of Victory tiebreaker over the Seahawks with three wins from any of these five teams this weekend: Commanders, Bills, 49ers, Vikings, Browns.
Here is the complete game recap:
Neither team was able to get into a rhythm offensively early on until late in the first quarter, when the Cardinals mounted a lengthy drive that went reached 11:04 in the second quarter. However, that series was upended after the Rams stonewalled Cardinals running back James Conner for no gain on 4th and 1 from the Rams 14.
