Cards-Rams in London a surprisingly key game

LONDON – The NFL has long desired to expand and strengthen its place as an international sport, but in shipping the Cardinals and Rams here for a game on Sunday, it didn’t appear the league was exporting a top-of-the-line product.

The Rams haven’t finished with a winning record since 2003 and went 4-12 in 2016.

After three consecutive winning seasons, the Cardinals slipped to 7-8-1 in 2016, and a strong argument could be made they are a team on the decline.

But unexpected things happen when the regular season actually begins, and Sunday’s meeting at Twickenham Stadium is as significant as a game in the

seventh week of the season gets.

The Rams look much different from a year ago. The Cardinals look much different from a week ago.

The Rams (4-2) lead the NFC West, although they have lost to the Seahawks (3-2).

The Cardinals (3-3) are a game behind and have renewed confidence and vigor after trading for running back Adrian Peterson 12 days ago.

“Every season is a new season. Every week is a new week,” said Cardinals kicker Phil Dawson, in his 19th season. “That’s the thing about the NFL. You look into history, you look into trends, you look into all that, but you don’t know what to expect. Every year there’s a couple teams that come out of nowhere and surprise some people.

“There’s such a fine line between winning, losing. Success, failure.”

The Rams are a prime example of that. They’ve been invigorated by a new coach, Sean McVay, improvement on the offensive line and upgrades at receiver.

That’s helped quarterback Jared Goff look vastly different than the overmatched rookie he was a year ago.

“This scheme, I believe, it fits him as a quarterback,” Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson said. “It gives him a lot of opportunities to take his shots because he has a very big arm. Now, they’re giving him a little bit of easier reads for him – play-action and little pop passes, one-side progression reads for him. Definitely doing what he can do best. With that running game that they have now too, they’re much more balanced. He has a lot of weapons around him.”

The Cardinals think they have a running game, too, but it’s only a week old. It arrived on Oct. 10 when the team traded a conditional sixth-round pick to the Saints for Peterson.

In his first game with the Cardinals, Peterson rushed for 136 yards and two touchdowns. In his 12 days with the Cardinals, Peterson has given the team renewed confidence that it can make a playoff run.

Few people expected it because Peterson was languishing on the Saints’ third team. He played in London three weeks ago for the Saints and carried the ball just four times in the victory. If the Cardinals are clicking on Sunday, Peterson will have that many attempts in the first series.

Even though he’s 32, Peterson said he never let himself imagine the end of his career was imminent.

“Oh, no. I definitely wasn’t going to let the devil do that to me,” he said. “No, not at all. I knew things were going to change. I didn’t know when, but I knew. I refused to let that come into my mind. Like, ‘This is not the way it’s going to end. God has way more for me. My latter is going to be better than my beginning.’ That’s what’s in my mind, and this is just the start of it.”

The Cardinals hope that’s true because they are beginning the most important three-game stretch of the season. Starting with the Rams on Sunday, they play three consecutive games against NFC West opponents. The Rams and Seahawks are ahead of the Cardinals in the division, and the Cardinals can’t afford to languish around .500 any longer.

To avoid that, the Cardinals defense needs to quit working part time. In three games, the unit has allowed multiple scores in the fourth quarter.

“We’ve just got to dial in, be focused, got to understand that this is a business trip, and we’re ultimately fighting for first place in our division,” safety Tyrann Mathieu said. “So, we’ve got to understand that our opponent is playing really well. They’re extremely confident right now. We just have to match that intensity.”

It’s the first time the Cardinals have played outside the United States since 2005, when they beat the 49ers in Mexico. Rams and Cardinals fans have been seen on the streets here, but much of the crowd at Twickenham Stadium will be neutral. That should make for an interesting atmosphere, said quarterback Carson Palmer.

“I can’t wait,” he said. “I’ve heard amazing things. Everybody’s said it’s been such a pleasure to come over here and be in this environment. Just watching film, you get glimpses of the crowd. You see a ton of different jerseys, you see people standing up and cheering all game long it seems.

“I’ve heard about the energy in the stadium. It’s just electric, and I’m just excited to experience it.”

CARDINALS FANS IN THE UK Davidde Corran

31, from Melbourne, Australia, lives in Leeds, England.

“I'm actually from Australia (been living here for six years) and have been following the team since I was about 10 years old. I don't even remember why the Cardinals, I guess they were on TV one day when I first saw the game. I used to sit in my high school's library on a Monday morning before class and follow the games on nfl.com watching 'Jake the Snake' (Plummer) bring us back in the fourth quarter. If we were lucky there'd be one Cardinals game on TV a season, but now I can watch every game online and the team is playing in the country I live in. Crazy.”

Stefan Rowden

25, lives in Oxford. “I first started watching the sport around Christmas 2008. The first time was a primetime game between the Cowboys and the Giants. I just wanted to try and understand the rules of the game. Unfortunately, the sport has a certain stigma in the UK to those who know nothing about it, but I thought there must be something to a sport which is adored by so many in the U.S. I continued to watch that season (when I could, I only had access to primetime games), and I just got captivated by the Cardinals’ improbable run. I love an underdog, and the Cardinals seemed to be defying the odds every week. At this point I still understood relatively little, but there was no way I couldn’t appreciate what Larry Fitzgerald was doing. Through whatever medium, it’s rare you see someone with that ability to consistently come through whenever their team needs it most. By the time the NFC Championship Game rolled around – I was a fan.

“Also of note, I became an LSU fan in 2010 when I wanted to pick a college team. The reason I chose LSU … Patrick Peterson. I remember watching his last game before entering the draft vs. Texas A&M, he got somewhat overshadowed by his then-freshman teammate – Tyrann Mathieu. It’s kind of funny how it all worked out. “I’ve never seen the Cardinals play. I figured I’d have to make a trip over to the desert, something I’d have likely done this year if it hadn't been for the London game. I’m just thankful I’m going to see Larry play.”

David Mitchell

36, lives in Seaford, England.

“I first became a fan in 2010. I had followed football but not really picked a team. That changed when I watched a movie called Jerry Maguire and the team featured was the Arizona Cardinals and that was it. That year wasn’t the best for us. We went on a losing streak of seven games on the trot but I was hooked and since then have enjoyed all the highs and lows of our great team. “Watching the fan base and helping to build that fan base by participating in the British Bird Gang has been a highlight. Talking to fans this week, it’s seems a lot (of fans) got in to it by watching the Amazon show, 'All or Nothing,' which is a great show and made everyone relatable, which I think the UK fans love.

“So every Sunday is like I’m at the stadium. Have to wear the jersey and have the merch out ready so for the Cardinals to be here is a dream come true. Especially when I was in the pub and Steve Keim and Coach Arians stood next to me. Couldn’t not buy them a beer to say thank you.

“This week has been special and it’s only just starting.”