The Los Angeles Rams have now fallen to 2-4 this season, after dropping an important divisional game to the Arizona Cardinals. 

Throughout the day, the Rams looked off on both sides of the ball. The special teams were also hit hard with the loss of kicker Blake Grupe. 

Here are the instant reactions to the loss.

The Rams defense may have stopped the Cardinals from securing touchdowns, but they had no answers for Jacoby Brissett and company marching downfield. 

Apart from an interception early in the first quarter, the Cardinals were able to attack the secondary and gash the run defense for plenty of yards on the ground. Once Brissett and the offense got settled, they continued to find success with field goals.

Bam Knight and Tyler Allgeier were good for over 100 yards on the ground, as Brissett also tossed it to seven different receivers, leaving the Rams without a solid plan to stop the Cardinals' offense.

Head coach Sean McVay made it a point to release kicker Harrison Mevis after his early-season struggles. He was then replaced by Blake Grupe.

The issue is that right after Grupe kicked his first field goal as a member of the Rams, he was hurt on the very next play. The Cardinals nearly got away with a kickoff return touchdown, leaving the Los Angeles kicker as the last line of defense.

Grupe made the tackle and injured his knee on the play. He was made doubtful and then ruled out. Punter Ethan Evans began practicing kicks as the emergency option and finally got his chance to kick an extra point with the waning seconds of the fourth quarter.

The issue is the broken coverage on stopping the Cardinals from being able to nearly score a touchdown. 

The Rams have always had a split-carry situation with Blake Corum and Kyren Williams, but Corum has been prioritized a bit more in the past to start the last two games. Whether that is a production issue remains to be seen.

Corum outpaced Williams with nine carries through three quarters, but Williams began to take over in the fourth quarter. Whatever the plan is for both backs needs to be readjusted into a more back-and-forth type of situation.

Corum and Williams both have their strengths, but they confuse defenses more when trading off snaps.

One of the biggest reasons the Cardinals may have come away with the victory is due to how weel Mike LaFleur knows the organization. 

LaFleur served as the offensive coordinator for the Rams from 2023 to 2025, until he got his chance to be a head coach. Despite the early struggles for the Cardinals, they had a solid plan in place for the Rams.

Matthew Stafford never looked comfortable, while the offense attacked the middle of the field with quick-hitting passes, likely taking full advantage of the loss of cornerback Trent McDuffie.