Having won two of three games under coach Jim Haslett, another victory would have given the Rams a 3-5 record at the season's halfway point and moved them to within one game of the Cardinals. Instead, they are now three games behind Arizona and the question is how the team will respond in the second half of the season after such a disturbing loss.

The Rams led 7-0 in the second quarter when two turnovers led to 10 Arizona points, and that was followed by two Cardinals touchdowns in the final two minutes of the second quarter. Those scores came just 1:11 apart and provided Arizona with a 24-7 halftime lead.

When Arizona got the ball at its 8-yard line with 4:43 to play in the second quarter and leading 10-7, quarterback Kurt Warner had completed just 7-of-16 passes for 80 yards and the team had totaled 128 yards. However, in five plays, the Cardinals were in the end zone and they actually gained 102 yards on the drive because of a holding penalty. In their final 10 plays of the first half, Arizona gained 205 yards and Warner was 6-for-6 for 202 yards in that stretch.

Conversely, the Rams had 18 yards in the second quarter on 19 plays and quarterback Marc Bulger accounted for 16 on a scramble.

As Bulger said, "They kicked our butts. We had an early lead and in the second quarter we kind of fell apart. They took advantage of our mistakes."

Haslett, who has preached to the team about responding to adversity, acknowledged being "disappointed" that didn't happen Sunday. "We didn't handle it very well," he said.

He also noted how football is a game of one-on-one matchups and said, "That's what it's always about and we didn't win many of them today."

They sure didn't, at least after wide receiver Derek Stanley won his matchup with a breathtaking catch down the sideline that he turned into an 80-yard touchdown play. That play accounted for 34.6 percent of the Rams' 231 total yards for the afternoon.

The second quarter was a nightmare of battles lost:

--On first down from their own 15-yard line, Bulger looked right, hoping safety Antrel Rolle would bite. He didn't, and when Bulger tried to hit wide receiver Donnie Avery on a crossing pattern, Rolle stepped in front, made the interception and ran 40 yards basically untouched for a touchdown. That tied the score at 7.

Said Bulger, "I wish I had that back. That put our team in a bad situation. I pumped the tight end, assuming that the safety would move. But I knew I had to take risks and that made us one-dimensional. But I also understand my role in this situation. If it means I have to bear the blame for the mistakes we make this year, I'll take the blame. If it means getting all those talented young (receivers) on the field gaining experience, well, I'll take that because I know that they're all learning so much now.. And by this time next year, whew, they're gonna be great weapons. So let people say whatever they want about me now. ... I'll deal with the heat."

--After the kickoff, and one first down, on 2nd-and-12 from the 30-yard line, fullback Dan Kreider whiffed on a block of blitzing safety Adrian Wilson, who sacked Bulger and caused a fumble. The Cardinals took over at the 23, and the defense did a good job (thanks to a Haslett challenge on a horrendous call by the official that originally credited Arizona receiver Larry Fitzgerald with a reception and first down).

The Cardinals settled for a field goal and a 10-7 lead.

--On the Rams' next possession, Bulger had a nice 16-yard scramble for a first down, putting the ball at the 46-yard line. But the offense bogged down again, and another sack followed on 3rd-and-9. The ensuing punt was downed at the 8-yard line, a good time for the defense to come up with a stop.

It didn't. First down resulted in an 18-yard pass and run to fullback Terrelle Smith. After a holding penalty, Warner hit receiver Anquan Boldin for 17 yards and running back Tim Hightower got the first down on a three-yard run. The killer came on the next play when safety Corey Chavous appeared to have the angle on a long pass to Steve Breaston. Chavous mistimed it, and Breaston made the catch for 34 yards. Hightower then bolted 30 yards untouched for a touchdown.

--It proceeded to get worse. On 3rd-and-10, running back Steven Jackson, who probably shouldn't have played, dropped a pass over the middle that would have resulted in a first down and more. The Cardinals took over on their own 44 and on 2nd-and-10, Warner tossed a long pass in the direction of tight end Jerame Tuman. Cornerback Jonathan Wade was in perfect position for the interception or to knock the ball down and he failed at both.

Wade had the ball in his hands, but somehow as he tried to make the catch, the ball popped up and Tuman grabbed it, then ran untouched for a 56-yard touchdown. That made it Cardinals 24-7 and the game was essentially over.

Haslett now knows he has a challenge ahead getting the team to respond in the final eight games. There are still four games left in the division, and the second half begins with road trips to play the Jets and San Francisco.

Said rookie defensive end Chris Long about the loss, "It hurts. Any division game is going to hurt our team. The good thing is that we get to play them again. We are going to need some help and like coach Haslett said, we are going to get ready for the Jets. We have to turn this thing around.

"We knew we've been in a big hole ever since we started 0-4. For us, every game is a big deal, and that's not going to change for me and that's not going to change for anyone else around here. We just are going to play hard, come back to work on Wednesday and try to have some fun."

Haslett said matter-of-factly, "We're going to go out and play hard every game."