Derek Stanley returned the opening kick 30 yards, looking very much like a candidate for this job next season.

Here is a shock: The Rams fed Steven Jackson the ball on their first three plays from scrimmage, allowing Jackson to pound out a quick first down. This set up a 31-yard strike from Marc Bulger to Torry Holt.

Stanley on an end around? Don’t mind that at all, as it works for five more yards.

When the Rams got into the red zone, though, they  came to a screeching holt. Who could have seen this coming?

Jackson got buried on on a third-and-one run, so the Rams settled for Jeff Wilkins’ 37-yard field goal and an early 3-0 lead.

It’s great to  call on your workhorse for critical third-down conversion, but it’s also important to have the quantity and quality of blockers needed to execute.

Look! It’s old friend  Kurt Warner scrambling to complete a  third-down pass to Anquan Boldin for 15 yards. And his next third-down play, he located Boldin for a 16-yard gain to keep the Gridbirds moving.

As  Arizona moved into the edge of scoring range, the Rams played a counter-pitch play perfectly and buried J.J. Arrington for a four-yard loss. But Arizona cavalierly went for it on fourth-and-5 — and  Warner beat  a  Rams blitz with a 20-yard completion to Larry Fitzgerald.  

Edgerrin James ran the ball 10 yards to the Rams 7, but an incomplete pass and a false start penalty and a dropped pass forced the Gridbirds to settle for three points.

Neil Rackers tied the game  3-3 with a 23-yard field goal.  

Throwing off his back foot, the harried Bulger failed to deliver a third-down sideline pass to Dane Looker with enough authority. So the Rams  suffered their first three-and-out  series of the game.

Back  came the Gridbirds. Warner scrambled up the middle and completed a third-down pass to Fitzgerald for another first down.

Linebacker Chris  Draft closed the quarter on a good note, sniffing  out a screen pass to  James for a two-yard loss.