NFL: Arizona suffer first defeat of the season

Kevin Kolb was roughed up by the St Louis defence as Arizona suffered their first defeat of the season at the Edward Jones Dome.

The Cardinals quarterback was sacked nine times, while Sam Bradford threw two touchdown passes in a workmanlike 17-3 victory for the Rams.

Arizona were restricted to a 35-yard field-goal from Jay Feely as Bradford connected with Lance Kendricks and Chris Givens in the end zone despite completing only seven of 21 passes for 141 yards.

Bradford found Lance Kendricks from seven yards out early on and put the game beyond reach with a 51-yard scoring pass to rookie Givens in the fourth quarter.

But his options were limited after favourite target Danny Amendola left the game with a suspected broken collar bone, while Kolb endured a miserable night and threw a career-worst 11 consecutive incompletions.

The Cards QB did manage to complete 28 of 50 pass attempts for 289 yards, but two breaches of the Rams’ 15-yard line failed to results in any points.

“The defense has been doing it all season, they kept us in this game,” Bradford said. “We were able to make enough plays, a big one in the fourth quarter on third down, to put us up 14 and we got out of here with the win.

“Obviously we started great, had a really fast start, went down and scored on our first drive and just never really got back into our rhythm. But we got the win and that’s all that matters. I think we’re finally on the way up.”