The Los Angeles Rams have a fresh officiating complaint and a familiar problem: a losing record. A disputed unnecessary roughness penalty on cornerback Josh Wallace helped the Arizona Cardinals move into field-goal range in the final minute, and Chad Ryland's 43-yard kick as time expired gave Arizona an 18-16 win over a Rams team that entered the season as a Super Bowl favorite.
The flag came after the Rams jumped offsides on the first snap of Arizona's final possession, giving quarterback Jacoby Brissett a free play. He hit Jalen Brooks for 21 yards, and Wallace was then penalized for unnecessary roughness on the tackle, adding 15 yards and putting the Cardinals at the Los Angeles 29. Fox analyst Greg Olsen said repeatedly on the broadcast that the hit was not a foul, and rules analyst Mike Pereira agreed there was not enough contact to warrant a personal foul. Three running plays later, Ryland connected for his sixth field goal of the day.
Rams fans have reason to be upset, especially given the season's earlier officiating controversy. Wallace was flagged for pass interference against Denver, erasing an interception, and head coach Sean McVay later said the league acknowledged the call was a mistake. Now Wallace and the Rams have another decision to question, and another loss in the standings.
But the bigger issue is how Los Angeles reached that point. The Rams needed a 6-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to Colby Parkinson to cap an 86-yard drive and tie the score at 15-15 with 47 seconds remaining. What should have been a routine go-ahead extra point became a scramble because kicker Blake Grupe injured his knee tackling Devin Duvernay just over five minutes into the game and did not return. Punter Ethan Evans made the kick, briefly positioning the Rams to escape with a win.
They could not finish it. Arizona, which entered the game with one win and had been stopped without a touchdown on five red-zone trips, drove into range against a defense that took the field with a lead and less than a minute to play, and the Cardinals had no timeouts. The Rams also gave Brissett a free play with the offsides penalty, and the 21-yard completion did the rest of the damage before the flag ever arrived.
The offensive performance was just as troubling. Arizona's pass rush kept Stafford off-balance for most of the afternoon, and Los Angeles managed only nine points through 59 minutes despite a lineup featuring Puka Nacua, Davante Adams and Kyren Williams. Stafford delivered when the game was on the line, but a team built to win now should not need a last-minute touchdown to take the lead against a one-win opponent.
The schedule offers a chance to recover, with the Raiders, Chargers and Commanders up next. But after this performance, the Rams should not assume any of those games is an easy win. They remain too talented to write off after six games, yet they are 2-4, and preseason hype will not lift them out of that hole. Neither will another explanation from the league about a flag.