Good, Bad and Ugly: ‘Turd quarter’ doesn’t come back to bite Rams

The Los Angeles Rams got their act together in the second half in a 37-20 win over the Arizona Cardinals in the regular season finale. L.A. is locked into the NFC’s No. 5 seed with a rematch against the Carolina Panthers set for next weekend.

Before we think ahead to the playoffs, here is the good, the bad and the ugly from the Week 18 win over Arizona.

The Good

Strong fourth quarter prevents historic upset

Things weren’t looking good there for a while, huh?

Give credit where it’s due, considering the Cardinals had absolutely nothing to play for but pride, and they gave the Rams everything they had until they ran out of gas. The fourth quarter was a game changer for L.A.

Los Angeles scored on both meaningful drives in the quarter, excluding the kneel down to end it. Matthew Stafford made a late MVP push by throwing half of his 4 touchdown passes in the fourth, beginning with a touchdown pass to Tyler Higbee and capped off by a 1-yard score from Colby Parkinson.

Stafford did all he could for his MVP chances, though it might be too little, too late.

L.A. outgained the Redbirds 147-39 on their two touchdown drives sandwiched between two Cardinals’ punts and a turnover on downs.

Championship teams don’t need to play their best every week, but still must figure out ways to pull off wins even while things are falling apart around them. Los Angeles did exactly that on Sunday.

Tight end production

Up until the last stretch of the season, production from the tight end spot was a complete embarrassment. However, for a solid chunk of the second half of the year, it’s been reasonably good.

Parkinson had a pair of touchdown receptions, which brought his season total to 8. Higbee, fresh off a stint on IR, led the Rams with 91 receiving yards and a 22-yard score that helped L.A. finally break the game open with just over 10 minutes remaining.

It’s easy to forget just how much Higbee elevates the offense when he’s available. Needless to say, having him back now is excellent timing ahead of what could be a deep playoff run for Los Angeles.

The Rams’ offense only got more dangerous with Higbee back in the fold.

Pass rush and run defense returned in the nick of time

For a team to cure their woes, they only need to play the Cardinals. If only that translated to us in real-life.

Last week against the Falcons, star running back Bijan Robinson shredded the run defense to the tune of 195 yards, by far the most the unit had given up to any opposing back this year.

Additionally, the famously mobile Kirk Cousins was sacked a grand total of zero times. It was an inexcusable showing for Chris Shula’s defense, yet they made up for it against Arizona Sunday.

L.A. brought down Brissett six times and held the Cardinals to 79 yards on 15...