Cards hope Sunday rematch with Rams erases ‘bad taste’
One of the many reasons why rookie quarterback Kyler Murray wants to play in Sunday’s season finale is to try to exact some revenge on the Rams, who rolled over the Cardinals 34-7 in Week 13. It was the only game this season where the team never had a chance and was flat from start to finish.
Murray said he still can’t stand “having that bad taste in my mouth from that last game.”
Nobody can, and several Cardinals players have spent this week talking about how they don’t plan on letting a similar letdown and blowout happen again when the team visits Los Angeles.
“For us as a team, we just have to start fast,” cornerback Patrick Peterson said. “For some odd reason, every time we play the Rams it’s almost like a boxing match, a slugfest. When they give us that first punch, we can’t seem to get off the canvas. We understand what these guys want to do. … We just have to go out an execute the game plan to our full potential. We have to make sure we stop the run, try to make this team onedimensional and make sure we make the plays at the P.O.A. – which is the point of attack.”
Since Sean McVay took over as coach of the Rams, his teams have defeated the Cardinals five straight times and outscored Arizona by 132 points.
“They’re not a team you can get behind and give plays to,” wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald said. “You have to beat them, you can’t make mistakes.”
Solidifying the secondary
Peterson wants to keep playing. Not just in the big-picture sense, but the cornerback wishes this season, even the regular season, could stretch a little longer.
“We’re definitely playing at a very, very high level right now,” Peterson said Thursday. “The only downfall is I wish we really had a couple more games left to see us really turn that corner, because I really feel that this time of the year, now, we’re starting to really, really play together as a group.”
For the second week in a row, at his weekly availability, Peterson spoke of how critical it is to keep the secondary together. He thinks they can carry over momentum, with one caveat.
“The only way it will be hard is if we get a bunch of different guys in here again,” he said. “...The more we’re able to be together as unit, the better we can be.”
He draws two comparisons, first saying it’s like continuity on the offensive line, but also comparing the defense to the early years under then-coach Bruce Arians, when there was less turnover. Having the same group for a few years allowed them to build on that each year. Peterson believes the team is seeing the start of that again now.
“We know this is gonna be the secondary next year,” he said. “The last two weeks, we’re starting to grow that confidence in one another.”
Of the 10 defensive backs on the Cardinals active roster, seven arrived in 2019, between the draft, waivers and free agents. That doesn’t include cornerbacks Robert Alford, Kevin Peterson or Brandon Williams, all on the injured reserve. Safety Budda Baker often feels like a more seasoned veteran, even though this is just his third year.
Peterson feels that being more competitive this year, even in losses, paired with a scheme that matches the personnel, has led to other positive changes. “The energy level, the focus level is definitely different,” he said.
Game 250 for Fitz
Sunday’s game will be the 250th career game for Fitzgerald, who will become just the 13th player in NFL history to play at least 250 games with the same team. He will be the first wide receiver to accomplish the feat.
“It’s been more than 250,” Fitzgerald said Thursday. “You’re not counting all the preseason games, the playoff games. … It’s gone by really quick.”
Fitzgerald, 36, is wrapping up his 16th season and hasn’t yet said if he plans on returning for a 17th year.
Injury report
Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (hamstring) practiced Thursday, but was limited. TE Charles Clay (calf) and TE Darrell Daniels (biceps) did not practice. OL Justin Pugh (back), S Budda Baker (quadricep), LB Chandler Jones (thumb) and S Charles Washington (calf) were all limited.