With a 3-13 record, this year's Rams finish as one of the worst teams in franchise history.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The 2007 Rams' football season ended with a loud and inglorious thud Sunday afternoon in the Arizona desert. The Rams didn't just lose their fourth straight game since team President John Shaw gave coach Scott Linehan a vote of confidence in early December — they crashed and burned.

Talk about closing out a season in style. The 48-19 loss to the Cardinals was the most lopsided defeat for the Rams this season. The team's 3-13 finish is its worst in 13 seasons in St. Louis, thus ensuring a place for the '07 Rams as one of the worst in franchise history.

In the 70-year history of Rams football, only six other teams have finished with three or fewer victories: the '91 Rams (3-13); '82 Rams (2-7, in a strike-shortened season); '62 Rams (1-12-1); '59 Rams (2-10); '41 Rams (2-9); and the 1937 Cleveland Rams (1-10, in the franchise's inaugural season).

The Rams scored only 263 points this season, the lowest total for the franchise since the '93 Los Angeles Rams. Meanwhile, they gave up 438 points, the second-highest total of points allowed in franchise history.

So in a cruel sense, Sunday's debacle was a fitting ending to a nightmare season.

"It was definitely an embarrassing loss," safety Corey Chavous said. "We competed but they beat our (butts), and that's tough."

Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner looked frisky at age 36 in passing for 300 yards and three touchdowns. His favorite target, Larry Fitzgerald, was the proverbial kid in the candy store, grabbing one pass after another against a beleaguered St. Louis secondary. He had 11 catches for 171 yards and two TDs.

After going 14 games without allowing a 100-yard rusher, the Rams finished the season by allowing a 100-yard rusher for the second straight game. On Sunday, it was Edgerrin James, with 102 yards and a TD on 24 carries. (Ten days ago it was Najeh Davenport with 123 yards for Pittsburgh.)

Even subtracting two interception returns for scores by Arizona on Sunday, the Rams' defense has yielded 68 points and 847 yards over the past two games. So what happened to the defense?

"I don't know," Linehan said. "We're going to have to look at it."

Actually, the Rams have to look at everything in the wake of a disastrous season that began with expectations of contending for a playoff berth.

"I've got to make a lot of changes myself," Linehan said afterward. "We've got to look at what we're doing scheme-wise. We've got to look at everything."

When it comes to the draft, the Rams aren't on the clock yet, but they're the next "best" thing. Sunday's loss to Arizona, coupled with victories by Atlanta and the New York Jets, leaves the Rams with the No. 2 pick overall in April.

In the immediate aftermath of yet another defeat, quarterback Marc Bulger didn't know how to characterize the train wreck that was 2007.

—"'Disappointing' probably isn't the right word," Bulger said. "I'll probably need a couple of weeks to come up with the right word. Wherever 'disappointing' is, it's in the farthest spectrum of that."

Sunday's game unraveled quickly in the second quarter. With the score tied 3-3, Linehan uncharacteristically gambled on a fourth-and-4 play from the Arizona 43. But Bulger threw incomplete on an out pattern intended for Drew Bennett.

The Cardinals took over on downs and promptly marched 57 yards in eight plays, scoring on a 2-yard run by James. Just two plays later, a deep pass down the middle intended for Torry Holt was intercepted by Antrel Rolle and returned 47 yards for a touchdown.

"My interception hurt us pretty bad," Bulger said. "I couldn't see Torry, so I tried to (float) it a little bit behind him. I threw a bad ball, and they made a nice play. It kind of switched the momentum, but it was definitely on me."

Just like that it was 17-3, and the Cardinals weren't done yet with their second-quarter scoring spree. The Rams went 3-and-out on their next offensive series, with Bulger getting sacked twice. After a Donnie Jones punt, the Big Red marched 64 yards, with Warner throwing the first of his two TD passes to Fitzgerald.

That score, with 1:06 left in the half, made it 21 points in just 6½ minutes for Arizona and gave the Big Red a 24-3 lead. It marked the eighth consecutive game that the Cardinals had scored 20 points or more — and it wasn't even halftime.

The Rams never got closer than a two-score deficit afterwards. Even with a 36-yard TD by tight end Joe Klopfenstein, on only his second catch of the season early in the third quarter. And a 52-yard interception return for a TD by safety Oshimogho "O.J." Atogwe late in the third quarter, on his eighth interception of the season.

The St. Louis offense struggled most of the day to move the football; and the defense was even worse, generating next to no pressure on Warner. "That was the biggest problem for us — we didn't create pressure on Kurt, and when we did, it was a step late," Linehan said.

A step late in a 2007 Rams season that was over almost as soon as it started.

"We fell short in a lot of areas," Linehan said. "Just look at our record."

jthomas@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8197