The Arizona Cardinals beat the St. Louis Rams 12-6 on Thursday Night Football, improving to 11-3 while St. Louis dropped to 6-8. Going into the game, the Cardinals were underdogs thanks to starting backup quarterback Drew Stanton while the Rams were coming off two consecutive shutout wins.
Bruce Arians ‘loves it’ when the media writes off the Cardinals
Arizona beat St. Louis on Thursday night and afterward, its coach had a few things to say.
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After the game, Arizona head coach Bruce Arians praised his defense for their excellent play. The Cardinals held the Rams to only two field goals, forced two turnovers and kept the St. Louis ground game from ever taking off with only 69 rushing yards.
“Everybody wanted to talk all that stuff about how great their defense is. I think they saw a good defense tonight, it was in red and white,” Arians said before talking about his team’s 143 rushing yards. “We blocked them. I think they had been reading their press clippings way too much.”
Even more, Arians took exception to the media’s perceived lack of respect for the Cards and took a jab at the Rams in the process.
“I love it when nobody says you have a chance to win. There is an 11-3 team and a team that is always 8-8,” Arians said. “You figure it out.”
On the Rams’ side, tight end Jared Cook believes that St. Louis was not coached to the level of the Cardinals, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
“We got outplayed, we got out-coached, and we just put a bad display out there,” tight end Jared Cook said.
When asked to elaborate on what he meant by being “out-coached,” Cook replied: “Not really. It’s pretty self-explanatory. We got outplayed and out-coached. All we put up was six points and didn’t get in the (end zone) not once tonight. That’s a pretty unsuccessful night if you ask me.”
At 11-3, the Cardinals are all but guaranteed a playoff spot. Should they be able to beat the Seattle Seahawks in Week 16 on Sunday Night Football, the NFC West and perhaps the top seed in the NFC would remain in their control. With a loss to Seattle, Arizona would likely be the fifth seed and taking on the NFC South winner in the wild-card round.
Either way, Arizona will have to do it with a backup quarterback. Drew Stanton left the win on Thursday with a knee injury, although its severity is still unknown. If Stanton has to miss time, third-stringer Ryan Lindley is up.
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