The Los Angeles Rams can win the NFC West this weekend thanks to a 13-9 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday night. The Rams will now clinch the division if the Vikings, Bills, 49ers, Commanders, and Browns combine for three more wins in Week 17 due to a strength-of-schedule tiebreaker that LA has over the Seattle Seahawks.
With eight drives ending in punts and the Rams forcing a turnover on downs at their own 14 yard line, scoring didn’t begin until late in the second quarter.
The Rams got on the board first when Kyren Williams recorded his 16th rushing touchdown of the season to put LA ahead 7-0. Over his last six games, Williams has six rushing TDs.
RAMS WIN!!! pic.twitter.com/g3GZiAMb7F
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) December 29, 2024
Rams QB Matthew Stafford had an unusually bad start, missing 14 of his first 20 passes. However, he did complete three straight attempts for 42 yards toward the end of the second quarter, leading to a Los Angeles 53-yard field goal to extend the lead to 10-0 at halftime. With that successful field goal, kicker Joshua Karty became the second rookie in franchise history to score 100 points in his first season.
Cardinals running back James Conner, who recently signed a two-year extension, was knocked out of the game in the first half with a knee injury. He came into this matchup nursing an injury to that same knee.
Arizona tight end Trey McBride had one of his best games of the season recording 12 catches for 123 yards and a TD. His one-yard touchdown catch to open the third quarter cut the lead to 10-6 after Arizona’s extra point attempt was blocked. That reception, which was McBride’s 98th of the year, was his first touchdown catch of the 2024-25 campaign and his first TD since January 7th, 2024.
Here is Trey McBride’s 98th catch — and first touchdown of the season. pic.twitter.com/GGzkkSOwO5
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 29, 2024
Cards rookie wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. had six catches for 96 yards in the game. With that performance, he passed Arizona legend Larry Fitzgerald for the fourth-most receiving yards by a Cardinal in their rookie season. 44 of his yards came on Arizona’s second drive of the half, which led to a field goal to make it 10-9 in the fourth quarter.
Second-year LA wideout Puke Nacua eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark for the fifth time this season. He caught ten passes for 129 yards in the game. His 21-yard catch-and-run in the fourth quarter led to a field goal to give the Rams a 13-9 advantage with 6:36 left in the game.
Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, who had 353 total yards, threw two interceptions on the final two drives of the game, bringing his total to 11 on the season. The second pick came with 37 seconds left in the fourth quarter, sealing the 13-9 victory for LA.
Even if Los Angeles doesn’t get the strength-of-schedule tiebreaker on Sunday, they’ll have a chance to make the playoffs with a win-and-get-in Week 18 matchup at home against Seattle. Whoever wins that game wins the divisional crown.
