Arizona Cardinals vs Los Angeles Rams

INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- — To prepare for the playoffs, the Los Angeles Rams dressed their starters for a fairly meaningless regular-season finale against an opponent that hadn't won in two months. The Rams didn't even look ready for this modest test, let alone the postseason, when Sean McVay's players found themselves trailing the Arizona Cardinals late in the third quarter Sunday. That's when the Rams made a dynamic late surge that they'll attempt to repeat on a larger, longer scale over the next few weeks. “It was what needed to happen,” Matthew Stafford said. “Kind of put our minds to it.” Stafford passed for 259 yards and threw two of his four touchdown passes to Colby Parkinson, and the Rams rallied to secure the No. 5 seed in the NFC playoffs with a 37-20 victory. Tyler Higbee returned from injury with five receptions for 91 yards and a key fourth-quarter TD for the Rams (12-5), who will visit the NFC South champion Carolina Panthers (8-9) in the wild-card round. Puka Nacua made a one-handed TD grab shortly before halftime among his 10 catches for 76 yards for the Rams, who snapped their first two-game skid of the season despite taking plenty of time to seize control. Los Angeles didn’t return to top form while making major mistakes on defense and special teams yet again, but Stafford’s offense made three straight touchdown drives to avoid any embarrassment before the games that matter much more. Los Angeles clinched its third straight playoff berth last month, but blew the No. 1 overall seed with road losses to Seattle and Atlanta in its past two games. Now the Rams will have to win in Charlotte, where they lost 31-28 on Nov. 30. “I like where we’re at right now," McVay said. “Now we move forward, and what a great opportunity we’ve got to go to Carolina and see what the hell we can do.” Stafford passed Dan Marino for seventh place on the NFL’s career TD passes list while finishing his MVP-caliber season leading the NFL with 4,707 yards passing and 46 TDs — the second most in league history by a quarterback at least 37 years old. “Felt like I had a nice season, and really just proud of our team,” Stafford said. “It's an award that’s earned by everybody, (but) I’ve got bigger fish to fry at the moment, so that’s what I’m going to be worried about.” Jacoby Brissett passed for 243 yards and hit Michael Wilson with a 43-yard TD pass in the second half for Arizona, which put a fright into the Rams despite finishing coach Jonathan Gannon's third season with nine consecutive losses and 14 of 15. “We’re gonna keep swinging, man,” Gannon said. “Everybody in there has been through tough times in their careers, and the main thing that I was happy about today was they maximized the last opportunity to play. And they’re not going to be happy watching these (playoff) games, but we did that to ourselves, and it starts with me.” Gannon dropped to 15-36. He agreed that the Cards are likely to make significant changes, but didn't speculate on his own future. Trey McBride made seven catches to extend his NFL single-season record for a tight end to 126 receptions for the Cardinals, who lost 14 games in a season for the first time in the history of a franchise that started in Chicago in 1920. Josiah Deguara caught a go-ahead TD pass in the third quarter from Brissett, who started the Cardinals' final 12 games after a foot injury sidelined Kyler Murray. The former No. 1 pick's future is also up in the air in Phoenix. “Obviously came up a little short, but I’m pretty sure (the Rams) probably came in here and thought they were gonna roll us and get ready for the playoffs," Brissett said. “And no, we gave them a run for their money. Guys came out and battled.” Indeed, the Rams didn't find urgency in their final regular-season game until deep in the second half. The Cardinals surged after halftime with two electrifying plays: Emari Demercado caught a 28-yard pass from punter Matt Haack on a fourth down fake from the Arizona 29, immediately followed by Wilson's 43-yard TD catch. Wilson finished with 99 yards receiving to top 1,000 in a season for the first time. Arizona mounted a steady 76-yard drive moments later, capped by Deguara's first TD catch since 2021, that sparked grumbling in SoFi Stadium. But Stafford and the Rams quickly drove for Parkinson's catch-and-run TD from 21 yards, following five minutes later by the first TD catch since Nov. 2 by Higbee, the 10-year veteran who returned from a six-game injury absence. Parkinson added a 1-yard TD catch with 4:15 to play. Injuries Cardinals: Rookie CB Will Johnson and LB Channing Tindall injured their knees in the first half. Rams: WR Jordan Whittington injured his knee while making a tackle on special teams in the first quarter and didn't return. ... Special teams standout Shaun Dolac hurt his knee. Up next Cardinals: Determining the futures of Murray and the coaching staff before the draft, when they could make the third overall pick. Rams: A chance to atone for their rain-soaked loss at Carolina on Nov. 30. ------ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL