The Arizona Cardinals, coming into Sunday, had little to no shot of defeating the high-octane offense in the Los Angeles Rams, especially since L.A. was coming off one of the more embarrassing losses of the season.
Aside from Matthew Stafford coming into State Farm Stadium with a chip on their shoulder, the Rams were aided by the fact that the Cardinals were missing key defensive starters all over the field. At least one starter from each position group (defensive line, linebacker, and secondary) was inactive.
This played a huge part in Stafford completing 22-of-31 passes for 271 yards and three touchdowns.