INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Matthew Stafford passed for 202 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score in his first playoff win, as the Los Angeles Rams emerged victorious from the wild-card round by crushing the Arizona Cardinals 34-11 on Monday.
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Odell Beckham Jr. and Cooper Kupp caught touchdown passes for the NFC West champion Rams (13-5), who will now visit the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday to get a ticket to the conference championship game. Los Angeles advanced to the postseason for the third time in the last four years with coach Sean McVay at the helm.
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David Long also scored on a 3-yard interception as the Rams defense hounded Kyler Murray in his disastrous playoff debut. Los Angeles built a massive 28-0 lead and easily won the postseason opener at SoFi Stadium, which will host the 56th Super Bowl in February.
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Stafford excelled in his first postseason game with the Rams, completing a season-low 13 of 17 passes without an interception and despite three knockdowns. He coolly ran the Los Angeles offense while notching his first playoff win in 13 NFL seasons — the first 12 came with Detroit, where the Lions are 0-3 at this stage.
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“I think he did a great job as a leader,” McVay said of Stafford. “He’s still the same great player to me, and he always was before this game. I think it’s good that you guys don’t have to talk about it anymore. I’m very happy to be able to do this with him. He’s our leader on the field, and we wouldn’t be here without him.”
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After an inconsistent end to the regular season, the Rams’ constellation of superstars coalesced brilliantly around Stafford at the start of the postseason.
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Beckham had four receptions for 54 yards, including his first career postseason touchdown reception for the Rams’ first points. In addition, he threw a 40-yard pass in his first win at this stage. Linebacker Von Miller had six tackles and a key early start in his first postseason game since being named MVP in the 50th Super Bowl.
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Murray was 19 of 34 for 137 yards and two interceptions for the Cardinals (11-7), who after a 10-2 start ended in a 1-5 loss. Arizona conceded its second road loss in 10 games this season under Kliff Kingsbury, but lost to the Rams for the 10th time in their last 11 meetings.
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“We didn’t do anything right in the first two quarters,” Kingsbury said. “The Rams handled the game and the atmosphere well … As an offense, we weren’t in sync on a couple of things early on that could have changed the game. We never got up to speed and they made some great plays.”
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