The Rams have gotten in the end zone. But their kicker situation has made things more complicated than it needed to be.
Blake Corum scored on a 15-yard screen that he caught and took to the paint for the first receiving touchdown of his career. That put the Rams up 9-6 over the Cardinals.
But with new kicker Blake Grupe doubtful to return with a knee injury, the Rams elected to go for two. Matthew Stafford was strip-sacked on the play, and the Cardinals nearly had two points of their own when defensive lineman L.J. Collier picked up the loose ball and went running the other way.
But Collier was tackled before he could get to the opposite end zone, keeping the Rams’ three-point advantage.
Stafford is 9-of-13 for 60 yards with a TD.
Rams Clips
The Rams special teams are — and have been — a mess.
One of the group’s first opportunities on Sunday made things even more complicated.
After making his first field goal with Los Angeles, Blake Grupe was injured while trying to make a tackle on a kickoff return. The Rams did not cover the kick well, with returner Devin Duvernay nearly getting to midfield before Grupe hit him to drive him out of bounds.
But Grupe suffered a knee injury on the play and is now doubtful to return.
According to multiple reporters on the scene, punter Ethan Evans has been practicing kicks into the net on the sideline.
The Rams will not have their top cornerback for Sunday’s game against the Cardinals.
Trent McDuffie is inactive for the contest. He was listed as questionable after missing Friday’s practice with a groin issue.
McDuffie has registered seven passes defensed with an interception so far this season — his first with Los Angeles.
Rams safety Kam Curl (ankle) is active after he was also questionable.
For the Cardinals, safety Budda Baker is active after he was listed as questionable with a groin injury.
But running back Jeremiyah Love was previously ruled out with an ankle injury.
Arizona’s inactives are Love, quarterback Carson Beck, cornerback Starling Thomas, safety Andrew Wingard, safety Wydett Williams, safety Jerrick Reed, and defensive lineman Andrew Billings.
The inactives for L.A. are McDuffie, receiver C.J. Daniels, receiver Tutu Atwell, quarterback Ty Simpson, defensive end Larrell Murchison, and offensive lineman Bill Murray.
Beck and Simpson are the emergency third QBs for their respective teams.
The good news for the Cardinals, who haven’t won at home since September 14, 2025, is that they’re playing on the road today. The bad news is that they’re facing the Rams, who have an offense that is more than good enough to give the Cardinals’ defense the hot-knife-through-butter treatment.
Of course, the Cardinals’ tub of Country Crock has seen plenty of warm knives in recent weeks.
The Cardinals have allowed 36 or more points in three straight games. Via NBC Sports research, that’s one short of tying the all-time record of four in a row in a given season.
The others to have three straight games with 36 or more points allowed are the 2010 Bills, 2004 Titans, 1954 Washington, 1950 Colts, 1948 Chicago Rockets, and 1934 Cincinnati Reds.
If the Cardinals allow 36 or more this week, the potential record setter would come next week, when the Broncos come to town.
More importantly, the Cardinals have lost eight games in a row in the NFC West. Another loss ties their all-time record (since the merger) of nine in a row, which happened in 1991-92 when they were in the NFC East.
Bills linebacker Bradley Chubb did not retaliate physically after Rams left tackle Alaric Jackson punched him in the aftermath of Buffalo’s Week 5 win in Los Angeles, but he did get disciplined by the league for his part in the altercation.
The NFL announced on Saturday that Chubb has been fined $14,239 for taunting at some point before Jackson took a swing at him. Per the league, Chubb’s taunting was when the Bills offense was on the field at the two-minute warning in overtime and the Bills won the game on a field goal on the next snap. Nothing involving Chubb was captured on ESPN’s broadcast at that point in the game.
Chubb acknowledged that he initiated the interaction with Jackson, which took place on the field after the game was over.
Jackson was suspended two games for his actions, but the ban was reduced to one game after he appealed the punishment. He will lose $934,555 while sitting out Sunday’s game against the Cardinals.
Bills running back James Cook was fined $21,167 for illegal use of the helmet and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson was fined $11,194 for unnecessary roughness. Rams defensive lineman Braden Fiske was fined $11,941 for a facemask foul.
After Monday night’s overtime loss to the Bills, Rams coach Sean McVay minced no words — he said the field goal unit lost the game.
The next day, kicker Harrison Mevis lost his roster spot.
And it wasn’t just that the potential game-winning field goal from 48 yards was blocked. McVay believes, even without the effort from Gregory Rousseau to get a hand on the ball, the kick would have missed.
“I didn’t think it would have gone in, I did not,” McVay told reporters on Friday. “I could be wrong, but it didn’t look like the trajectory was on alignment.”
If so, the block straightened it out. And it nearly had enough distance to clear the crossbar.
With Mevis gone, Blake Grupe takes over.
“He has a nice demeanor about himself,” McVay said regarding the team’s new kicker. “There’s a quiet confidence, but a humility that you want. I’m looking forward to seeing him produce and then I think it’s part of our job to put him in positions that have successful outcomes. Ideally, it’s more extra points than anything else.”
Still, Grupe’s range (his career long is 60 yards) gives the team a broader window for attempting field goals.
“I think having a strong leg is attractive, especially like at the end of a half or at the end of the game,” special-teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone told reporters. “You need the range to be able to do so and to be able to hit it with accuracy. I think he’s done a good job in his career to be able to do that. He gets good elevation on his kicks. He has a strong leg despite his size. He is an explosive guy. I really am excited to work with him.”
Elevation is a key factor. Mevis wasn’t able to get the ball over Rousseau’s hand. Even if it had, McVay thinks it would have missed the mark.
The Monday night instant classic between the Bills and the Rams nevertheless failed to crack the 20 million viewer threshold on the various Disney networks.
Via ESPN, the final game of Week 5, broadcast by ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, and NFL Network, generated 19.8 million viewers.
It’s the second most-watched Week 5 Monday night game since ESPN assumed the package in 2026; last year’s Chiefs-Jaguars game holds the Week 5 record.
ESPN also announced that the alternate broadcasts on ESPN2 (the ManningCast) and NFL Network (a NextGen Stats production) attracted 1.1 million viewers, without specifying the audiences on either network.
That approach could be a precursor to the upcoming Pat McAfee alt casts on ESPN2; if ESPN2 and NFL Network audiences are lumped together, there won’t be a clear, apples-to-apples comparison between the ManningCast and the McAfeeFest.
In the end, none of the Week 5 prime-time games surpassed 20 million. Bills-Rams arguably was the best candidate to get there, given the Super Bowl preview sizzle associated with the game, and the involvement of the last two NFL MVPs (Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford).
Two of the Rams defensive backs are uncertain to play Sunday’s game against the Cardinals.
Trent McDuffie (groin) and safety Kam Curl (ankle) are both listed as questionable.
Head coach Sean McVay told reporters that Trent McDuffie felt something in his groin at the end of Thursday’s session, so the team held him out of Friday’s practice out of an abundance of caution.
McDuffie has registered seven passes defensed and an interception so far in 2026.
The rest of the Rams are good to go, including tight end Davis Allen (foot) who missed the first two days of the practice week. He was limited in Friday’s session.
Receiver/returner Alex Bachman (wrist), linebacker Nate Landman (wrist/shoulder), tight end Colby Parkinson (shoulder), linebacker Omar Speights (knee), offensive lineman Keagan Trost (hamstring), and cornerback Josh Wallace (shoulder) are the other players who are off the injury report.
The Rams will not have to contend with running back Jeremiyah Love this weekend.
Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur announced that Love will not play in Week 6 during his Friday press conference. Love has been dealing with an ankle injury for the last couple of weeks and LaFleur said earlier in the week that the team wants him to get back to full health.
Love did not practice at all this week and the decision to rule him out gives him more time to heal. LaFleur said there have not been any conversations about placing the first-round pick on injured reserve, so they will hope to get him back on the field ahead of their Week 7 game against the Broncos.
Tyler Allgeier and Bam Knight will be the backs for Arizona against the Rams.
The Rams added safety Kam Curl to the practice report Thursday. He was limited due to an ankle injury.
It indicates Curl injured his ankle during practice, but coach Sean McVay doesn’t hold a news conference again until Friday.
The Rams also added offensive lineman Keagen Trost to the injury report with a hamstring injury, but he was a full participant.
Wide receiver Alex Bachman (wrist) returned to full participation after limited work Wednesday.
The rest of the Rams’ report remained the same: Tight end Davis Allen (foot) did not practice, and inside linebacker Nate Landman (wrist/shoulder), tight end Colby Parkinson (shoulder) and cornerback Josh Wallace (shoulder) were limited again. Inside linebacker Omar Speights (knee) was a full participant for a second consecutive day.
