Week 13 Game Recap: Arizona Cardinals 34, St. Louis Rams 20

What you need to know

Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals went on the road to St Louis and were able to run the ball more effectively than they had all season long. Edgerrin James became the first Cardinals running back in two seasons to clear the century mark, rushing 26 times for 115 yards, though he failed to score a touchdown.

Marcel Shipp and J.J. Arrington saw all of the carries inside of the five yard line, with Marcel Shipp scoring three times on the ground. Shipp gained 21 yards on seven carries, while J.J. Arrington gained just one yard on four attempts.

Matt Leinart was efficient in the passing game, and finished 15 of 24 for 186 yards and one touchdown without any turnovers. Anquan Boldin was his most targeted receiver, but finished with just two catches for 32 yards, though drew two long defensive pass interference calls that totaled an additional 61 yards and set up a pair of touchdowns. Larry Fitzgerald ended up with the better numbers, scoring a touchdown on five catches which went for 46 yards. Third receiver Bryant Johnson added a pair of catches for 38 yards, with tight end Leonard Pope pitching in twenty yards receiving on two receptions.

St. Louis Rams

The Rams fell behind 17-3 by halftime, and despite the efforts of Marc Bulger to bring the Rams back into this game, they never truly challenged the road Cardinals, and possibly dissipated hopes of a playoff berth. Bulger finished 26 of 45 for 314 yards and two touchdowns, but threw three interceptions against an aggressive Cardinals’ defense.

Torry Holt led all receivers with seven catches for 115 yards and a touchdown, but missed an opportunity for an even bigger game when he failed to come up with a very catchable deep ball after he had split the defenders. Isaac Bruce came on late, finishing with five catches for 75 yards and a touchdown.

The Rams’ other receivers were relatively quiet, with Kevin Curtis catching just one ball for sixteen yards, while Shaun McDonald also had one reception for eight yards. Tight end Joe Klopfenstein totaled 31 yards on four receptions though was somewhat limited due to all of the short passes thrown to running back Steven Jackson. Jackson finished caught nine balls for 69 yards.

In the rushing game, Jackson carried the ball 21 times for 96 yards, though was kept out of the end zone. Backup running back Stephen Davis had a pair of carries for eleven yards to allow the Rams to break the hundred yard mark as a team.

What you ought to know

QB Matt Leinart, Pass: 15 - 24 - 186 - 1 TD / 0 INT

By completing 63% of his passes for an average of 7.8 yards per attempt, Leinart finished with a passer rating of 100.3. Leinart benefited from a questionable offsides call on Leonard Little in the fourth quarter with a 24-10 lead, bringing back an interception over the middle, though one can argue that Leinart recognized that he had a free play. Leinart was especially effective early on, completing 11 of his first 14 passes for 118 yards. While Leinart’s passing totals weren’t extremely high, the Cardinals benefited from Leinart’s willingness to trust his talented receivers and throw the deep ball and draw pass interference penalties.

RB Edgerrin James, Rush: 26 - 115 - 0 (1 targets)

James exceeded the century mark for the first time all season by averaging 4.4 yards per carry, though he did not break anything for longer than eleven yards all afternoon. While he wasn’t utilized inside the five yard line, James took six straight carries late in the game for 31 yards to help take more than three minutes off the clock and put away the game. It should raise the eyebrows of James owners that the Cardinals ran the ball seven times and threw the ball twice inside the five yard line, knowing that James did not have any of those touches or targets.

RB Marcel Shipp, Rush: 7 - 21 - 3

Shipp scored on touchdown runs of one, six and nine yards against the Rams, but it should be noted that there was an additional drive where he received a pair of carries from inside the three yard line, but did not score, which could have amounted to an even larger afternoon. On that particular drive, Leinart tripped while handing off to Shipp on fourth and goal from the one, causing a delayed handoff, keeping him out of the end zone. In this game, Shipp clearly defined himself as the goal line back, though it should be noted that coach Dennis Green was also willing to utilize J.J. Arrington in a similar role late in the game.

WR Larry Fitzgerald, Rec: 5 - 46 - 1 (6 targets)

Fitzgerald capitalized on Boldin’s hard play, using his body to shield the defender as he cut across towards the middle of the field on his touchdown reception. In addition to this touchdown catch, Fitzgerald was targeted once more deep in the red zone.

WR Bryant Johnson, Rec: 2 - 38 - 0 (3 targets)

With the Cardinals leading all afternoon and concentrating on the rushing game, Johnson had a lesser role than in previous weeks.

WR Anquan Boldin, Rec: 2 - 32 - 0 (10 targets)

Boldin’s biggest contribution in this game was in drawing a pair of defensive pass interference penalties, and serving as a deep option to open up the offense, all of which fail to show up on the stat sheet. Boldin was also targeted once in the red zone inside the five yard line.

TE Leonard Pope, Rec: 2 - 20 - 0 (2 targets)

Pope got the start and all of the tight end targets in this game, converting on both passes.

PK Neil Rackers 2 - 2 FG, 4 - 4 XP, 10 points

Rackers connected on field goals from 20 and 23 yards, though could have had the opportunity to kick an additional short one had not the Cardinals gone for it on fourth and goal from the one. Rackers was also perfect on all four point after attempts.

ARI Rush Defense

The Cardinals kept Steven Jackson under the hundred yard mark and out of the end zone, which had to go down as somewhat of an accomplishment, though they gave up an average of 4.7 yards per carry on the afternoon.

ARI Pass Defense

With three interceptions and four sacks, an aggressive Cardinals’ defense helped propel the team to victory despite giving up 314 yards through the air on 45 passes.

QB Marc Bulger, Pass: 27 - 45 - 314 - 2 TD / 3 INT

Bulger fought through a rib injury all afternoon en route to a passer rating of 68.2, though this was brought down by a Hail Mary interception at the end of the game. Marc completed sixty percent of his passes for an average of seven yards per attempt, but was hurt both by his own turnovers and a dropped pass on a deep ball to Torry Holt that would have helped get the Rams back into the game.

RB Steven Jackson, Rush: 21 - 96 - 0, Rec: 9 - 69 - 0 (11 targets)

Jackson was active all afternoon, with thirty touches totaling 166 yards, but failed to score, and was limited by the fact that the Rams trailed by double digits for most of the game. Jackson looked comfortable in both the rushing and passing game, but was unable to come up with the big play at any point during the afternoon.

WR Torry Holt, Rec: 7 - 115 - 1 (16 targets)

Despite averaging 16.4 yards per reception, Holt missed having a huge day when he failed to come up with a very catchable ball in the first half after he had split the defenders that would have gone for greater than an eighty yard touchdown reception and certainly would have changed the momentum of the game. Holt did rebound with a touchdown and five catches in the second half of the game.

WR Isaac Bruce, Rec: 5 - 75 - 1 (11 targets)

Bruce was especially active late in the game, catching four of his five passes in the second half. He saw 11 targets and seemed to be able to create separation when he needed to.

TE Joe Klopfenstein, Rec: 4 - 31 - 0 (5 targets)

The rookie out of Colorado caught nearly everything thrown his way, with four out of his five targets coming on first down, and the other on a short second down play. Each of his catches in this game went for seven to nine yards on similar routes.

PK Jeff Wilkins 2 - 2 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 8 points

Wilkins connected successfully on field goals of 27 and 37 yards, and made both extra points.

STL Rush Defense

The Rams became the first team in two seasons to allow a Cardinals’ running back to break the century mark, though the bigger concern may be that they allowed Marcel Shipp to score three times, including on runs of six and nine yards. With seven drives inside the red zone, the Cardinals put 34 points on the board, converting successfully on six of the seven drives.

STL Pass Defense

The Rams were not able to put any consistent pressure on Matt Leinart, with only one sack, and were not able to force any official turnovers, as there only interception was called back. Though they only gave up 186 passing yards, if one were to include pass interference penalties, the total would have been nearly 250 yards through the air.