Ryland’s Sixth Kick Gives the Cardinals an 18-16 Upset

Chad Ryland made a 43-yard field goal as time expired Sunday, giving the Arizona Cardinals an 18-16 win over the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. All 18 Arizona points came from his right foot, and the Cardinals (2-4) left Inglewood with the NFL’s biggest upset of the season as 13.5-point underdogs.

Los Angeles went in front 16-15 with 47 seconds to play. That score left Ryland a final look he had been building toward all afternoon.

Ryland Made All 18 Points Without a Touchdown

Arizona finished 0-for-5 in the red zone and never punched in a touchdown, a formula that usually buries a 1-4 visitor in this building. Ryland, 27, was perfect 6-for-6 on field goals instead, matching a career high and becoming the first kicker this season to make six in a game. Jacoby Brissett went 24 of 35 for 218 yards with one interception and kept handing the ball to a kicker who did not miss.

CHAD RYLAND’S SIX FIELD GOALS

Bam Knight ran 15 times for 80 yards, and Trey McBride caught 7 passes for 53, yet the Cardinals kept settling. Tight end McBride said after the game, “We have to score touchdowns in this league,” then praised a defense that finally gave the offense a low-scoring game it could survive. Ryland later said he was not sure he had ever impacted a game this much.

Coach Mike LaFleur, in his first season in Arizona after three years as Sean McVay’s offensive coordinator, sounded grateful and slightly alarmed at the same time.

I never want to see six kicks again unless they’re extra points. But if you’re going to kick it, you might as well make it.

Mike LaFleur, Cardinals head coach, postgame

47 Seconds Was All Arizona Needed

Matthew Stafford, 38, finally found the end zone that had been closed for most of the second half. From his own 15 with 2:48 left, he hit Puka Nacua for a 42-yard gain, added another 16-yard catch to Nacua, and threw a 6-yard touchdown to Colby Parkinson with 47 seconds on the clock. Parkinson had been ruled down at the 1 before a video review awarded the score and put 29 seconds back on the clock. Punter Ethan Evans, with backup quarterback Stetson Bennett holding, converted the extra point for a 16-15 lead, the first placekick of Evans’ career.

LaFleur later said that extra time was a gift. “Deep down, I thought we were going to win when we had 47 seconds left,” he said. “I just believed in these guys and the way it was going for these guys today.” Brissett needed one throw to prove him right. He hit Jalen Brooks for 21 yards, and an unnecessary roughness penalty on Rams cornerback Josh Wallace tacked on 15 more, moving Arizona 36 yards into range in a single snap. Tyler Allgeier ran for 5, and Ryland’s 43-yard kick as time expired ended it from the left hash, the spot he said he prefers.

CHAD RYLAND WINS IT FOR THE CARDINALS pic.twitter.com/QfTHlvwVcr

— NFL (@NFL) October 18, 2026

The late flag is already the easy villain. Arizona still would have owned a first down near midfield with more than 40 seconds left and a kicker who had not missed all day. Los Angeles had spent three hours putting that kicker in position. Brissett said once he saw the offside and the catch, he thought the Cardinals were going to win. “And man, what a walk-off right there. It’s pretty crazy.”

The New Rams Kicker Lasted One Kickoff

Special teams set the tone before Stafford ever went down the field. Quentin Lake intercepted Brissett at 12:18 of the first quarter, and Blake Grupe, signed days earlier off the New York Jets’ practice squad, made a 44-yard field goal for 3-0. On the kickoff, Grupe had to tackle returner Devin Duvernay, who reached the Arizona 47, and he hurt his right knee doing it. Los Angeles lost new kicker Blake Grupe to a knee injury on that play. He walked off with trainers, was listed doubtful, then ruled out. After the game he was in the locker room with a brace and crutches. McVay said he had no further detail.

That absence changed the math. After Stafford’s 15-yard screen to Blake Corum made it 9-6 in the second quarter, McVay went for two rather than hand the ball to a punter. Josh Sweat sacked Stafford, who fumbled, and L.J. Collier recovered. Had Los Angeles simply kicked the extra point, the final would still have been a one-score game, but the choice showed how little trust the kicking operation had left. Harrison Mevis had been released after a missed 50-yard try and a blocked 48-yarder in overtime against Buffalo on Monday night. Grupe was the replacement. He lasted one made kick and one tackle.

Evans spent the rest of the afternoon warming into a net on the sideline. He was ready when Parkinson scored. He was not asked to try a field goal. Ryland was asked six times.

How a Last-Place Defense Held Los Angeles to 286 Yards

Arizona entered the week 32nd in points allowed and 26th in yards allowed, and it had given up 148 points across a four-game slide that lost by a combined 66 (24, 12, 6, and 24). The Rams came in leading the league in total offense. They left with 286 yards, 3 sacks for 28 yards, and one possession in the entire third quarter. Nacua finished with 6 catches for 80 yards. Davante Adams had 3 for 39. Kyren Williams ran 10 times for 50. The unit that was supposed to bury a last-place defense spent the day in third-and-long.

TEAM TOTALS AT SOFI

The Cardinals sat on the ball after halftime with a 15-play, 56-yard drive that took 8:35 and ended in Ryland’s 38-yarder, then another 14-play march that took 8:11 and ended in the 27-yarder. Those five trips to the red zone all became field goals, which LaFleur will not want to repeat, but they also kept Stafford on the sideline. When Los Angeles did move, it gave the ball back. Tyler Higbee fumbled after a catch in Arizona territory with 7:47 left, Cody Simon forcing it and Denzel Burke recovering at the 25. After a stop, the Rams faced fourth-and-3, jumped offside, and threw incomplete on fourth-and-8 with 3:23 remaining.

Left tackle Alaric Jackson was serving a one-game suspension, reduced from two after he punched Buffalo linebacker Bradley Chubb following Monday’s overtime loss. David Quessenberry started in his place, and the Cardinals kept coming off that edge. Stafford took the hits. Myles Garrett was already out with a knee injury. Cornerback Trent McDuffie (groin) was inactive. Aaron Donald did play, including a tackle for loss on Allgeier that helped force an early field goal, and it was not enough.

LaFleur Leaves SoFi 2-0 Against His Mentor

This was the first head-to-head between LaFleur and McVay, and it was Arizona’s second win of the season, both at SoFi Stadium after a 26-14 Week 1 victory over the Chargers in LaFleur’s debut. The Cardinals had lost eight straight against the NFC West before Sunday. McVay had beaten them 16 times in 19 meetings. LaFleur is the eighth of McVay’s former assistants to become an NFL head coach. Asked about beating his old boss, he declined the subplot. “My focus was on just this football team,” he said. “It was all about the Cardinals today.”

Brissett, starting while the Cardinals wait on a healthier running game with rookie Jeremiyah Love (ankle) out, managed the clock and the throws he had to make. Walter Nolen III hurt an ankle in the second half. The defense still closed. Ryland got a game ball. His mother had sent a rare game-day text that morning, a week after he missed a 53-yard try against Detroit, telling him to trust his process. He stayed in it through six swings.

Nothing Positive, Then a Road Game in Las Vegas

McVay did not hunt for a silver lining in front of 72,573. The Rams are 2-4 and 1-3 at home, with three losses in four games, the last two in a seven-day span at SoFi decided by a combined five points. They were preseason Super Bowl favorites. Stafford, asked for a larger reading, did not offer one. “We are what our record is,” he said.

HOW LOS ANGELES BEAT ITSELF

• The kicker: Grupe’s debut ended on a kickoff tackle, forcing a punter into placekicking and a failed two-point try after Corum’s score.
• The football: Higbee’s fumble at the Arizona 19, after Adams and a pass-interference flag had moved the Rams into scoring range, wiped a chance to tie or take the lead earlier in the fourth.
• The downs: A false start on fourth-and-3, then an incompletion on fourth-and-8 with 3:23 left, turned the ball over on downs while trailing by six.
• The flag: Wallace’s unnecessary roughness on Brooks’ 21-yard catch moved Arizona from its own 35 to the Rams’ 29 and into Ryland’s range with the clock already under a minute.

McVay listed those same mistakes almost in order, from the opening return to the offside on fourth down, and he did not separate play-calling from execution. “We just didn’t execute. Simple as that,” he said. He also put the season’s pattern in one line.

We won’t win a game unless we figure out how not to beat ourselves. There’s nothing positive I can say about today.

Sean McVay, Rams head coach, postgame

Arizona hosts Denver next Sunday. Los Angeles goes to Las Vegas. The Cardinals still have a red-zone problem and a 2-4 record. They also have two wins, both in Inglewood, and a kicker who made every kick he was given, including the one the Rams left on the clock when they took the lead.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Many Field Goals Did Chad Ryland Make Against the Rams?

He made all six attempts, the first six-field-goal game by any NFL kicker this season, tying the second-highest total in Cardinals history behind Jim Bakken’s 7 in 1967. ESPN Research also notes the 18 points were the most by an Arizona kicker since Jay Feely scored 25 against Denver in Week 14 of 2010, when Ryland was 11.

Why Did Rams Punter Ethan Evans Kick the Extra Point?

New kicker Blake Grupe, signed off the Jets’ practice squad after Harrison Mevis was released following two missed kicks in overtime against Buffalo, injured his right knee tackling Devin Duvernay on the first-quarter kickoff and did not return. Evans practiced placekicks on the sideline, then made the extra point after Colby Parkinson’s 6-yard touchdown with Stetson Bennett holding, the first placekick of Evans’ career.

Have the Cardinals Won a Game Without a Touchdown Before?

Sunday was Arizona’s fifth win since 2000 without scoring a touchdown, a total tied with the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers for the most in that span. Ryland’s 18 points were also the most by a Cardinal responsible for every team point since Ernie Nevers scored 40 in 1929.

What Is Mike LaFleur’s History With Sean McVay?

LaFleur spent the previous three seasons as McVay’s offensive coordinator and is the eighth former McVay assistant to become an NFL head coach. Sunday was their first meeting as head coaches, and it was Arizona’s second win of 2026, both at SoFi Stadium after a 26-14 Week 1 victory over the Chargers in LaFleur’s debut.