When the Arizona Cardinals visited the divisional rival Los Angeles Rams back in October, third-year quarterback Kyler Murray played a mistake-free brand of football, throwing for 268 yards with two touchdowns in the team's 37-20 win. Much to the Cardinals' dismay, Murray couldn't find that SoFi Stadium mojo in their pivotal rubber match.
Hoping to buck a disturbing trend of late-season slumps, the Cardinals came up rather short on Monday night, as pressure from the Rams' defensive front and dysfunction from Murray's unit resulted in a dreadful 34-11 wild-card loss in Los Angeles. The Rams' defense stifled Murray, forcing two turnovers and limiting the opposition to just 183 yards of offense.
"Line of scrimmage, that's the battle the Rams have to win. Defensively, they have the front to do it," NBC Sports Los Angeles reporter Michael Duarte told After Hours with Amy Lawrence on Tuesday. "Offensively, their offensive line has been spectacular this year, pretty consistent. But when they go against physical teams like the 49ers -- who like to bully you around, get physical on both sides of the ball -- those are the matchups that give them trouble...
"Looking ahead to this matchup with the Bucs and Tom Brady, if you can put pressure on Brady with just your three or four on the line -- you don't have to blitz to get pressure on him and you allow the secondary to lay back and play coverage ball -- that's given Brady some struggles in his career. And I believe this Rams defense has that front to put pressure on Brady without having to disguise what package is at him. I think that bodes well for them."
From the opening kickoff, the Cardinals looked completely flat. Their first four drives resulted in three-and-outs that traveled for a combined minus-9 yards, and during their fifth possession, Murray threw a careless interception inside his own end zone for a blooper-reel pick-six. Seven plays later, Murray threw another interception, this time near midfield. At halftime, the score was 21-0.
As for the Rams' offense, success wasn't hard to come by. For the first time in his 13-year career, Matthew Stafford earned a playoff win, completing 13 of 17 passes for 202 yards with three scores. Odell Beckham Jr. and Cooper Kupp also caught balls inside the end zone, and the team's group of running backs tallied 140 yards on 38 carries.
Los Angeles, which won the NFC West title, will visit the defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a divisional round matchup this Sunday afternoon. According to FiveThirtyEight projections, the Rams have a 32-percent chance to reach the NFC title game and a 13-percent chance to reach Super Bowl 56.
The entire Rams-Cardinals conversation between Duarte and Lawrence can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow After Hours With Amy Lawrence on Twitter @ALawRadio and @AfterHoursCBS, and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.