ARIZONA — The Arizona Cardinals did the unthinkable and beat down the Los Angeles Rams in their home opener. There was always a chance for a win, but to blow out a team who you haven’t beaten in your home stadium in almost a decade?

That seemed out of the cards for sure. Instead, Jonathan Gannon and the Cardinals took the Rams behind the woodshed. 

It was a performance that not only got us excited as fans but answered some questions we had after their week one loss to the Bills. It was an encouraging win in more ways than one.

We learned several things about this Cardinals team, perhaps none more than they won’t be an easy out this year. But there was more we learned from this game:

Remember when Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr. connected for one pass on three attempts for just four yards against the Bills and the sky started falling? What a time to be alive.

The duo took no time hooking up against the Rams, with their first two connections hitting for touchdowns including a 60-yarder. There were a few other throws that the two could’ve connected on and maybe another touchdown, but we can’t expect perfection from the duo after two games.

Rather, this felt like a statement from the two that there’s no need to panic and overreact. Cardinals fans are getting exactly what they signed up for with the Murray-to-Harrison connection.

We had high hopes for this Cardinals offense heading into the year with the aforementioned Murray and Harrison joining James Conner, Trey McBride, and a host of other weapons. Through two games, we aren’t disappointed by the results.

Petzing called a masterful game on offense that resulted in 489 total yards, 7.9 yards per play, and four touchdowns. Murray made outstanding plays to post his fist career perfect passer rating game. Conner ran for 122 yards and scored on the ground. McBride made six catches for 67 yards and picked up a fumble from Conner in the end zone for a touchdown!

Honestly, when that happens you just know it’s your day.

From what we saw in week one to what came out of week two, the Cards appear to be capable of living up to that hype on offense and Petzing deserves his roses for calling up the game.

No B.J. Ojulari or Darius Robinson? Apparently, no problem for Gannon and Rallis. The two have forged seven sacks in two games against good if not great offenses and quarterbacks despite not having their top two edge rushes. Instead, the Cards have used a creative defense to dial up pressure despite the circumstances they’ve been given.

Dennis Gardeck, a local fan favorite at this point, got a hat trick with three sacks off Matthew Stafford including a late strip-sack to cap off his outstanding day. Zaven Collins also got a sack off the edge, and Krys Barnes contributed the fifth sack.

It’s not going to be an easy season for rushing the quarterback, but the Cardinals’ defense has shown that they’re going to find ways to produce no matter what they’re given.

After a sour week one loss to the Bills, we began to question if the Cardinals were going to be good enough to win games this season. After their beat down of the Rams, I think that question was answered cohesively.

It was a perfect performance in all three phases of the game plus coaching. The roster is talented enough to at least put up a fight with most teams and showed that against the Rams.

We’re all prone to overreacting after week one, but these Cardinals appear to be about where we expected them to be.

Coming into this past Friday night’s massive, top 25 matchup, the Arizona Wildcats had some questions they had to answer regarding which version of their offense and defense was going to show up.

Was it the offense that put up tons of points in Week 1, or was it the one that was largely shut down by an FCS-level opponent in the next game?

As for the defense, it was the complete opposite as they were gashed in the opener and were able to show their teeth in Week 2.

Well, those questions were answered on Friday, and the answers were not positive.

After an opening drive touchdown, the Wildcats didn’t score a single pointe again en route to getting completely dominated, 31-7. They had three straight possessions where they punted, followed by three straight where they turned the ball over on downs.

It was ugly.

Even quarterback Noah Fifita, who was so good last season and during the opener, looked like he had taken a massive step back.

The defense still clearly has some holes, specifically on the ground as they have given up 446 total yards rushing when facing FBS opponents.

Arizona came into the matchup ranked No. 21 in the nation, viewed as a team who could compete for a Big 12 championship and a spot in the expanded College Football Playoff.

Right now, no one has those proclamations.

The Wildcats have a lot to work on during their bye week after being dominated by Kansas State, something head coach Brent Brennan is fully aware of after taking responsibility for the loss.

“At the end of the day I need to coach this team better. It all starts with me,” he said per Jason Scheer of 247Sports.

There is certainly plenty of self-inflicted wounds they can clean up, starting with penalties that seemingly stalled drive after drive on Friday.

Arizona will have to use these two weeks before their massive matchup against Utah on Sept. 28 to get everything clicking, or else they are going to put themselves in an early hole when it comes to competing for the conference.

If Los Angeles Rams fans thought their season had already gotten off to a shaky start due to some early injuries to their roster, things have only managed to snowball even more after an overwhelming loss to Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals. The game resulted in a 41-10 bludgeoning that should raise a level of concern regarding the Rams’ future this season. Here are three of the biggest takeaways from Los Angeles’ week two defeat in Arizona.

Matthew Stafford will potentially be entering week three without both of his premier wide receivers. The 2021 Offensive Player of the Year exited the game in the second quarter with an ankle injury. With his co-star Puka Nacua not expected to return to the field for at least 5-7 weeks, this Rams’ wide receiver room is going to be heavily reliant on players like Tutu Atwell and Damarcus Robinson to shoulder the load. Rams’ head coach Sean McVay is going to have to get creative with his play calling over the next few weeks if he plans to survive this loss to his group of pass catchers.

The Rams’ offensive line was abysmal against the Cardinals’ front-seven as Stafford was pressured consistently throughout the game. Three of the five starting Los Angeles offensive linemen were not available against Arizona. Left tackle Joe Noteboom is spending time on IR after he was hampered by an ankle injury. Starting right guard Kevin Dotson was inactive against the Cardinals as well after he suffered a foot injury in week one against the Detroit Lions. This Rams’ offense was unable to consistently run the football and was just as lethargic in the pass protection. Hopefully, this unit can regain some depth before their week three matchup with the San Francisco 49ers.

Due to the Rams’ secondary getting banged up early to start the season, this Los Angeles pass rush will have to excel in order to supplement for some of their holes. Florida State teammates turned Rams rookies Jared Verse and Braden Fiske will have to develop fast because their ability to pressure quarterbacks would really help relieve the amount of time the secondary has to cover play to play.

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