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The St. Louis Rams welcomed the Arizona Cardinals to town on Sunday, and the game was close statistically in virtually every way and the scoreboard was no different as the Rams won 27-24.
The player of the game, and the winner of the “Game Ball” for me in this game, is Rams’ kicker Greg Zuerlein. He made four field goals, including the game-tying and game-winning field goals in the fourth quarter, with the second coming from 48 yards out with 40 seconds remaining to give the Rams the win.
“Legatron” made the first 15 field goals of his career as a rookie in 2012, and he finished the season with seven field goal makes from 50 or more yards out. But he made just 8 of his last 16 field goal attempts over the last 10-plus games of the season, with six of those misses coming from 52 or more yards out. Four of those six misses came from 57 or more yards away, so Rams’ head coach Jeff Fisher did not do Zuerlein any favors as he was slumping down the stretch last season.
The offensive talent St. Louis added during the offseason should benefit Zuerlein greatly this season, and lead to plenty of shorter field goal attempts while still yielding some opportunities from long-range. The second-year kicker gets the Rams’ first Game Ball for 2013, and it surely won’t be his last if the team continues to play close games and needs him to perform in the clutch.
Honorable Mentions: Rams TE Jared Cook, Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald, Rams DE Robert Quinn, Rams QB Sam Bradford, Cardinals QB Carson Palmer
Brad Berreman is a contributing writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter @bradberreman24.
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