Cardinals @ Rams · Week 8

WEEK 8 · FINAL

THE READ

Cardinals edge Rams by 2

Arizona held off Los Angeles 38-36 in Week 8, a 2-point decision between teams that combined for 74 points. Sam Darnold threw 4 touchdown passes for the Cardinals despite 3 interceptions on 12 of 22 passing for 303 yards, while Justin Fields kept the Rams close with 21 of 30 for 331 yards and 2 touchdowns through the air, then added 3 rushing touchdowns on 7 carries for 102 yards. Los Angeles outgained Arizona 460 to 405 total yards but the Cardinals' advantage in turnover differential—3 giveaways to 1—proved decisive in the end.

Nicole Santos Beat reporter

THE WIDER PICTURE

Team	SRS	SOS	MARGIN	TO +/-
Cardinals	-1.0	+1.2	-2.2	-9
Rams	+2.7	+5.5	-2.7	-4

SRS is how many points a side beats an average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20. SOS is how hard that schedule has been. Full table.

Rams — NFC #7 · 8-6 Cardinals — in the hunt · 8-6 Playoff picture →

IN THE BOOTH

Jaylen Rivers The insider

Los Angeles had every chance to stay alive and couldn't close it out—Fields was dominant on the ground with 3 rushing touchdowns, but Darnold's 4 passing touchdowns were the difference in a 2-point game that Arizona needed more than they did.

Talia Morgan Beat reporter · replying

Arizona's 2-point win looks like a departure—the Cardinals have been pass-heavy all season but leaned on balance here, while Los Angeles abandoned its identity by passing 68% of the time and still couldn't overcome 3 turnovers. This was decided by mistakes, not scheme.

Marcus Reyes The numbers guy · replying

Darnold threw 4 touchdown passes on 54% completion to steal a 2-point game from a team that outgained Arizona by 55 yards—the Cardinals won the only stat that matters, and Fields' 3 rushing scores couldn't make up the difference in decision-making.

They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers — none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that did not happen.

Sam Darnold

Cardinals

12/22, 303 yards, 4 TD, 3 INT

Justin Fields

Rams

21/30, 331 yards, 2 TD

Justin Fields

Rams

7 carries, 102 yards, 3 TD

THE STORY SO FAR

🔥 Justin Fields has now cleared 250 passing yards in 3 straight games.

WHAT DECIDED IT

Total yards Rams 460, Cardinals 405 Rams

Through the air Rams 331, Cardinals 303 Rams

On the ground Rams 129, Cardinals 102 Rams

Giveaways Rams 1, Cardinals 3 Rams

THE ROOM Final. The recap is below.

📺 THE WEEK 8 SHOW this game is in the week's show ▶ Watch the show

THE MATCHUP SCOUT every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling

LEAGUE DATA counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it

Pass-heavy Pass 64% · Rush 36% · 26.5 scored, 28.7 allowed

9.1 yds/att 56.0% completions 4.7 yds/carry 383.2 yds/game 2.1 giveaways/game 6.5% sack rate last 5: 4-1

Primary weapon: Marvin Harrison Jr WR — 29% of the receiving yards · DEPENDENCY MODERATE

SAPPHIRE METRICS QB efficiency 60 · Aggressive Balance 86 Ball security 40 Back usage 31% QB runs 2.5/game

Most exposed: ball security -- 2.1 giveaways a game

PERSONNEL off the roster — unit averages, best starters only

QB 90 WR 84 TE 99 RB 90 OL 84 DL 85 LB 77 DB 87

Best: Trey McBride TE 99 Fastest: Jeremiyah Love HB 94 SPD 4 at star dev or better

YOUR NOTEBOOK what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic

HOW THEY PLAY the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season

glk_taza18

Rams · his last 8 games

Runs it Runs the quarterback

Pass / run55% / 45% Points for / against26.1 — 32.4 Margin-6.2 Giveaways a game1.9 Sacks taken4.8% of dropbacks Lead backIsaac Brown · 11.4/g Top targetPuka Nacua · 36% QB carries5.0 a game

impaid.w

Cardinals · his last 8 games

Throws it

Pass / run65% / 35% Points for / against28.5 — 30.0 Margin-1.5 Giveaways a game1.6 Sacks taken6.1% of dropbacks Lead backJeremiyah Love · 12.5/g Top targetMarvin Harrison Jr · 29% QB carries2.5 a game

Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.

THE SERIES impaid.w against glk_taza18 — the men, not the teams

All square at 1-1. impaid.w won the last one.

2 meetings avg 22.5 — 27.5 biggest: 12 pts to glk_taza18

S2 · week 8 impaid.w 38 — 36 glk_taza18 IMPAID.W

S2 · week 3 impaid.w 7 — 19 glk_taza18 GLK_TAZA18

Only meetings Sapphire can attribute to both men are counted — a Madden export never says who owned a team last season, so the series starts where the record does.

MATCHUP ADVANTAGES unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push

Cardinals receivers vs Rams secondary 84 v 89 RAMS

Rams receivers vs Cardinals secondary 87 v 87 EVEN

Cardinals line vs Rams front 84 v 92 RAMS

Rams line vs Cardinals front 84 v 85 EVEN

Cardinals backs vs Rams run defence 90 v 89 EVEN

Rams backs vs Cardinals run defence 90 v 82 RAMS

Cardinals passer vs Rams secondary 90 v 89 EVEN

Rams passer vs Cardinals secondary 93 v 87 RAMS

TOP PERFORMERS

Justin Fields QB Rams 331 pass yds

Sam Darnold QB Cardinals 303 pass yds

Puka Nacua WR Rams 124 rec yds

Trey McBride TE Cardinals 114 rec yds

Kyren Williams HB Rams 113 rec yds

Justin Fields QB Rams 102 rush yds

Jeremiyah Love HB Cardinals 102 rush yds

Jeremiyah Love HB Cardinals 89 rec yds

Marvin Harrison Jr WR Cardinals 89 rec yds

Emmanuel Forbes Jr CB Rams 1 INTs

🎬 The Game Recap
this game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›

BOX SCORE

CARDINALS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Sam Darnold QB	12/22	303	4	3	1	57	99.6

RAMS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Justin Fields QB	21/30	331	2	0	1	70	128.6

CARDINALS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG
Jeremiyah Love HB	17	102	6	1	2	23	17
Trey McBride TE	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Marvin Harrison Jr WR	0	0	0	0	1	0	0

RAMS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG	FUM
Justin Fields QB	7	102	14.6	3	0	8	63	1
Kyren Williams HB	5	27	5.4	0	2	12	11	0
Isaac Brown HB	2	0	0	0	0	3	0	0

CARDINALS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	LNG
Trey McBride TE	4	114	28.5	2	39	57
Jeremiyah Love HB	3	89	29.7	1	79	55
Marvin Harrison Jr WR	3	89	29.7	0	28	46
Michael Wilson WR	2	11	5.5	1	1	13

RAMS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	DRP	LNG
Puka Nacua WR	5	124	24.8	1	53	2	70
Kyren Williams HB	7	113	16.1	1	53	0	46
Max Klare TE	2	37	18.5	0	14	0	31
Luke Wysong WR	5	32	6.4	0	20	0	9
Anthony Gould WR	2	25	12.5	0	3	0	20

CARDINALS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	PD	FF
Andrew Wingard FS	3	0	0	0
Budda Baker SS	3	0	0	0
Maxwell Hairston CB	3	0	2	0
Cobie Durant CB	3	0	0	0
Dadrion Taylor-Demerson FS	3	0	0	0
Zaven Collins LEDG	2	1	0	1
Isaiah Oliver SS	2	0	0	0
Kaleb Proctor DT	1	0	0	0
Walter Nolen III DT	1	0	0	0
Jordan Burch LEDG	1	0	0	0

RAMS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	INT	PD
Zah Frazier CB	3	0	0	2
Jaylen Watson CB	3	0	1	1
Dexter Lawrence II DT	2	0.5	0	0
Braden Fiske DT	2	0	0	0
Nate Landman MIKE	2	0	0	0
Yasir Abdullah SAM	2	0	0	0
Quentin Lake SS	2	0	0	1
Grant Stuard WILL	1	0	0	0
Myles Garrett LEDG	1	0	0	0
Byron Young REDG	1	1	0	0
Julius Wood SS	1	0	0	0
Isaiah Pola-Mao FS	1	0	1	0
Emmanuel Forbes Jr CB	0	0	1	0

CARDINALS

PLAYER	FG	XP	LNG
Chad Ryland K	1/1	5/5	26

RAMS

nothing recorded

RECENT FORM

Cardinals

W 30–22 vs 49ers WK 7

L 21–24 vs Titans WK 5

W 45–35 vs Commanders WK 4

Rams

L 23–33 vs Packers WK 7

W 37–32 vs Lions WK 6

L 17–21 vs Giants WK 5

TEAM STATS

Cardinals		Rams
405	TOTAL YARDS	460
303	PASSING YARDS	331
102	RUSHING YARDS	129
1	SACKS ALLOWED	1
1	SACKS MADE	1.5
3	GIVEAWAYS	1
1	TAKEAWAYS	3

Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD

1 CARDINALS — 1 RAMS

🎰 Bet this game at The Book 🏟️ Your Franchise HQ 🗓️ Full league schedule