Rams prove they’re for real with shutout of Cardinals

After a long plane ride across the Atlantic Ocean to compete in the NFL’s attempt at growing the game in Europe, the Los Angeles Rams brought their best effort and dominated their conference rival Arizona Cardinals in a 33-0 blowout.

This game started off with the look of what could be the first London game to be remotely competitive as it relates to the scoreboard. Los Angeles kicker Greg Zuerlein opened the scoring with the first of his four field goals on the day after a solid drive was put together by the Rams offense.

After an uneventful first quarter, Jared Goff began to show how much he’s improved from last season with his performance. He completed 22 of his 37 passes for 235 yards and a touchdown while limiting himself to just one interception. He also ran for a nine yard touchdown late in the second quarter.

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This increased yards output from last week’s game against Jacksonville is a good sign for Rams fans going into the bye week. In the run game, Todd Gurley delivered another excellent performance, rushing for 106 yards and a touchdown, while also adding four catches for 48 yards.

The Rams were helped by an unfortunate situation that occurred for Arizona when quarterback Carson Palmer injured his left arm in the second quarter. The initial diagnosis is that former Heisman Trophy winner at Southern California broke his arm and will miss approximately eight weeks.

Veteran backup quarterback Drew Stanton did his best to run head coach Bruce Arians’s offense, but the Rams defense forced two turnovers and had three sacks to keep the Cardinals out of any sort of rhythm.

Running back and former MVP Adrian Peterson did not enjoy his second game as a Cardinal as much as his debut, as he was held to just 21 yards on 11 carries. Arizona was forced to abandon the running game after going down 23-0 at halftime, so credit goes to the Rams defense led by defensive tackle Aaron Donald and linebacker Alec Ogletree.

Looking ahead for the Rams, they’ll enjoy one more night in London before their long flight home back to Los Angeles tomorrow morning. Luckily, they won’t have to deal with any jet-lag or time adjustments affecting their play next week, as they will have the week off on bye.

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It’ll be a chance for the Rams to get healthy again, as starting center John Sullivan left the game with a left knee injury, while wide receiver Josh Reynolds appeared to suffer a concussion. The Rams will endure another long plane ride for their next game as they head east to face the New York Giants.