The Arizona Cardinals pulled off the biggest surprise of the day on Sunday. They went into SoFi Stadium and delivered a loss for the Los Angeles Rams.
It was a game that the Cardinals needed to win, going through a massive skid, and to do so, they would rely on the leg of Chad Ryland. He finished the game 6 for 6 on field goals, providing all of the scoring for Arizona in the win. That included a 43-yard kick to walk it off by a score of 18-16 as time expired.
Given how the season has gone for Cardinals fans, it’s easy to have been cynical until that kick went through the uprights. However, for head coach Mike LaFleur, he knew a bit earlier when his team was bound to win.
“Deep down, I thought we were going to win the game when we had 51 seconds just because I believed in these guys and the way it was going for these guys today,” Mike LaFleur said. “Chad’s a stud. He’s so funny too on the sideline. I’m happy for those guys.”
LaFleur was confident. However, after losing four games in a row, there was also a major sense of relief for the Cardinals head coach. He added after the game, “Thank God he did score.”
Arizona Cardinals Kicker Chad Ryland on His Game Winner
On the final drive of the game, the Rams kicked for a touchback and the ball ended up on the 35-yard line. That gave the Cardinals a relatively short field to work with.
From there, the Cardinals were able to hit a 21-yard pass while adding an unnecessary roughness penalty. Just like that, they were in field goal range for Chad Ryland.
“That’s being a good situationally aware football player and football team,” Ryland said. “Look at that last drive, we did it to a ‘T.’ The offense did exactly what we wanted to do, got the ball into field-goal range, got the ball to the hash I prefer, and we knocked down the kick.”
Ryland came into the NFL with the expectation he’d be consistently hitting these kicks. However, as a fourth-round pick of the New England Patriots, he thought he’d be hitting them across the country from where he is now.
Ryland would only last one season with the Patriots. He struggled that year, and wouldn’t get a second season to prove himself. Instead, he became a roster cut who landed with the Cardinals to back up Matt Prater.
It has been a great pickup for the Cardinals. In 2024, Ryland was forced off the practice squad and onto the active roster due to injuries. He’d held the kicking job since then. He’s now 67 for 81 on field goals with Arizona. That now includes a massive game-winner.
What’s Next for the Cardinals?
With the win over the Rams, the Cardinals moved to 2-4 on the season. They also now have the tiebreaker over the Rams, which means that they’re no longer in last place in the NFC West. They’re in third place.
Even with that, questions are going to continue to persist about where the Cardinals stack up in the pecking order of the NFC West. Luckily, the Cardinals do have opportunities to answer those questions in the coming days and weeks.
Next week, the Cardinals return home. There, they’ll play host to a contender in the AFC West, the Denver Broncos. The Broncos aren’t without their flaws, but the Cardinals will still likely be the underdog in that game.
Then, there is still the quarterback question hanging over everyone’s heads. Jacoby Brissett didn’t light the world on fire against the Rams, and eventually, the team will need to see Carson Beck in game action to figure out its future.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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