Cardinals 30, Rams 10
Carson Palmer went 27-for-32 for 269 yards and a touchdown as host Arizona kept its wild-card hopes alive by taking out St. Louis.
Larry Fitzgerald caught 12 passes for 96 yards and a score for the Cardinals (8-5), who stayed within a game of San Francisco in the wild-card race. Karlos Dansby ran an interception back for a score and John Abraham sacked Kellen Clemens in the end zone for a safety to lead the Arizona defense.
Clemens struggled to 181 yards on 16-of-27 passing and threw two interceptions as the Rams (5-8) dropped their second straight game. Zac Stacy ran for a touchdown but was limited to 25 yards on 14 carries.
The Cardinals jumped on top when Rashard Mendenhall capped the opening drive with a 3-yard TD run. The Rams responded with a 44-yard field goal by Greg Zuerlein but Palmer found Fitzgerald with a 7-yard scoring pass with 50 seconds left in the half to send Arizona into the break with a 14-3 cushion.
St. Louis got the ball to start the second half but Dansby picked off Clemens on the second play and ran it back 23 yards for a TD. Abraham’s safety 5 1/2 minutes later made it 23-3 before the Rams finally found the end zone on Stacy’s 1-yard burst to open the fourth quarter.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Arizona RB Andre Ellington tacked on a 6-yard TD run to put the game away with 1:55 left and finished with 46 yards on 11 carries. … The Rams were penalized 11 times for 90 yards after getting called for 11 infractions for 105 yards last week. … Palmer has 12 touchdowns and four interceptions over the last six games.