The St. Louis Rams came out of their loss to the Arizona Cardinals relatively healthy. Safety Darian Stewart took a thump to the head that sent him to the sidelines late in the game. Doctors will give him a closer look tomorrow. 

Stewart started a little rough for the Rams, but has improved considerably of late. In fact, the play of Rams' safeties Quintin Mikell and Darian Stewart has really helped fill the void left by all those cornerback injuries. Hopefully the Rams get him back quickly, giving him the chance for more reps as a rookie. Stewart had seven tackles and a sack today. 

Wide receiver Dominique Curry hurt his shoulder, but finished the game, according to the same report from the team. 

Expect more on these injuries in what promises to be another windy round of Massachusetts Aw Shucking in Head Coach Steve Spagnuolo's Monday afternoon press conference and cracker barrel. 

St. Louis Rams Head Coach Steve Spagnuolo offered a few post-game remarks following the Rams' collapse to the Arizona Cardinals. Frustration laced Spagnuolo's every word, as you might expect, and the coach seemed to have few answers for the team's struggles. 

Spagnuolo did offer his belief that a lack of effort from the players was not one of the Rams' problems on the field today. As angry as fans were to see the results of this game, most would tend to agree with the coach on that point. Effort rarely seems to be lacking. Answers are the only thing missing. Spagnuolo acknowledged that much, with his usual lack of clarity as to his team's struggles. 

The coach added, "my pride and my competitiveness says that no matter what, we gotta find a way to win." That seems to run counter to the some of the decisions the coach made today, notably the call to punt with four minutes left in the game and the Rams facing fourth-and-one. Spagnuolo defended that decision in his post-game remarks as well. 

Spagnuolo also added that he doesn't hear the boos from angry fans during the game. 

Some video of Spagnuolo's post-game comments after the jump, courtesy of 101 ESPN in St. Louis.

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The St. Louis Rams lost another game that they could have just as easily won today. Then again, that really is nothing new for this team. Blame the injuries, blame the lockout, those things certainly factored into the Rams eighth consecutive losing season, but the real problems start higher up the food chain. After watching today's loss, it becomes pretty hard to defend Head Coach Steve Spagnuolo, not to mention General Manager Billy Devaney. 

I almost tripped over three more nails in the coffin of Spagnuolo's coaching career with the Rams. 

Punting to Patrick Peterson...again. Did the Rams learn nothing from what happened in week 9? They punted right to Peterson who returned it 80 yards for his record-tying fourth punt-return touchdown. In a game the Rams lost by three points, those kind of decisions mattered.

The Rams had life in the fourth quarter, a rarity these days. They tied the game on a Brandon Lloyd touchdown following a fumble recovery. Arizona quickly responded with a field goal to take the lead. The Rams got the ball back, finding themselves at fourth-and-one at their own 36-yard line with four minutes left. Rather than go for it, with Steven Jackson who had been effective all day, Spagnuolo decided to punt. Cardinals ran the ball, as they had done all day, and won the game. Gutless is the only way I can describe it. A head coach about to lose his job and he still can't overcome his own chickenshit-ness. 

For some strange reason, the Rams simply refused to throw passes to the middle of the field, where they had success last year. Yes, the loss of Danny Amendola changed that, but abandoning that area all together defies logic. Josh McDaniels' epitaph should include "too clever by half" along with "Tom Brady made me look better than I really am." 

We'll dig a little deeper later. For now, we fume.

Maybe I'm wrong on this, but Stan Kroenke can't allow Spagnuolo and Devaney to keep their jobs. He would lose all of his credibility and essentially cede whatever future this franchise has in St. Louis.  

The St. Louis Rams have had few bright spots on offense this season. However, Brandon Lloyd has provided some much needed relief to a talent-starved group of wide receivers. He and Sam Bradford connected for another touchdown in the fourth quarter of the Rams game against the Arizona Cardinals today. That was Lloyd's fourth touchdown of the season, and his third consecutive game with a touchdown for the Rams. 

Check out the video of Bradford to Lloyd for the score right here. 

Bradford has looked much better today than in recent weeks. The stat sheet is not reflecting that very well, thanks to some more inconsistent wide receiver play. Gone, however, is the tentative looking Bradford that had been such a liability for the Rams in recent weeks. Not only that, his throws look much more accurate and have more than enough zip on them to make a difference. 

The Rams could really use the win here, and it won't be easy. 

Here's the video of Beanie Wells' 53-yard run after the Rams scored this touchdown.

Arizona Cardinals rookie cornerback Patrick Peterson has struggled with coverage at the NFL level, most corners do in their first season. He has not struggled with punt returns. Peterson just scored his fourth punt-return touchdown the season and his second against the St. Louis Rams. Peterson returned the punt 80 yards for a touchdown, giving the Cardinals a 20-10 lead.

Check out the video of Peterson’s punt-return touchdown.

Peterson is now in a four-way tie for the record for punt-return touchdowns in a season. Devin Hester is also on that list; he had four in the 2007 season. Peterson’s last punt-return touchdown came against the Rams in week 9. He returned a punt in overtime for a 99-yard touchdown that gave the Cardinals the win.

As for why the Rams punted directly to Peterson again after that, well, Steve Spagnuolo’s press conference after the game might offer some insight, but don’t bet on it.

The St. Louis Rams and the Arizona Cardinals are putting out two of the worst offensive displays you will see all season. The Rams lead 10-3 at the half, after settling for a field goal after taking a penalty because of a confused snap count and allowing a sack to push them from the three-yard line to the 17-yard line. The Rams ended up at the three-yard line thanks to a highlight worthy catch from wide receiver Brandon Lloyd.

That was a 26-yard pass from Sam Bradford, his longest of the game. Lloyd has three catches for 49 yards so far, and as Bradford’s top target, he should pick up some more.

The running backs have handled most of the offensive work in this game. Steven Jackson has 45 yards on 11 carries for the Rams, and Beanie Wells has 118 yards on just nine carries, including a 71-yard breakaway that nearly resulted in a score.

The Rams makeshift offensive line has struggled with the simple things, i.e. the snap count mistake by Tony Wragge that led to an offsides call in the red zone. A few other flags have come their way as well. Most troubling of all is the work of Adam Goldberg, who has allowed rookie Sam Acho two sacks, including one in the red zone following the Rams false start penalty. 

The defense has been strong. Chris Long would have two sacks if not for a bad call from the refs on Rod Hood. They seem to be sacrificing the edges against the run to keep Skelton off his game. So far, they haven't been burned by that. Darian Stewart looks like a man possessed.