KYREN WILLIAMS (23) ran for 158 yards and one score in the Rams’ 26-9 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday (Brevin Townsell/LA Rams photo).

By Greg Beacham/AP Sports Writer

INGLEWOOD (AP) – Although the Los Angeles Rams have played plenty of stellar offensive football over the past seven seasons, Sean McVay`s team hasn`t usually done it by simply squaring its shoulders and running the ball straight through opposing defenses.

The Rams ran it relentlessly in the second half against Arizona on Sunday, and the result was a runaway win.

Kyren Williams rushed for a career-high 158 yards and a touchdown, and Cooper Kupp made seven receptions for 148 yards and his first TD of the season in the Rams` 26-9 victory over the Cardinals.

Williams produced the Rams` best individual rushing performance in nearly three years despite getting just 4 yards on two carries in the first half. McVay dramatically leaned into the running game after halftime, even calling eight consecutive runs to begin the third quarter, and his players responded superbly to the test of their toughness.

“It`s awesome. I love it,” said Matthew Stafford, who passed for 226 yards. “I was so fired up, stepping back into the huddle each time with a run play. Those guys were loving it. … Wasn`t anything too tricky. Just line up and go play ball.”

The Rams (3-3) scored 23 unanswered points and shut out their NFC West rivals in the second half of their first home victory of the season.

McVay focused his offense on Williams, the second-year pro from Notre Dame whose play allowed the Rams to trade away Cam Akers last month. Williams broke off runs of 31, 27, 17 and 14 yards after halftime, and he put the Rams comfortably ahead with 8:19 to play on a gritty 5-yard TD run, stretching the ball past his tacklers and over the goal line near the pylon to end an 88-yard drive.

“That`s something I`ve always wanted,“ Williams said of his heavy workload, with 58 carries in the last three games. “I never had to adjust to it, because I was always working toward it. I always knew I had it in me, so now it`s just displaying the work that I put in before.”

Williams` 158 yards were the most by a Rams running back since Akers had 171 against New England in December 2020, the season before Los Angeles’ Super Bowl championship run.

“He was running like an absolute man on a mission today,” McVay said. “He was the star in the second half.”

Joshua Dobbs passed for 235 yards for the Cardinals (1-5), who lost their third straight while attempting to remain competitive without Kyler Murray. Arizona led 9-6 at halftime, but Dobbs threw a red-zone interception and fumbled on a sack during the second half as Los Angeles rolled away.

“We did things well, so there are things to build on,” Dobbs said. “But just two or three plays, man, that you don’t convert a couple of third downs and settle for field goals and turn over the ball in the red zone, that’s what the game comes down to.”

Neither team reached the end zone in the first half, with the Cardinals failing even after Los Angeles` Austin Trammell fumbled away a punt return at the Rams 17. Arizona led 9-6 at halftime after the Rams ran out of time to get to the end zone following a 49-yard catch by Kupp in the final minutes.

“Those are four-point plays, you know what I mean?” coach Jonathan Gannon said of Arizona’s red zone failures. “The points are at a premium there, and we’ve just got to get back in the lab and make sure we’re putting our guys in positions to make plays.”

Arizona drove to the Rams 12 after Kupp`s TD, but linebacker Christian Rozeboom made his first career interception on a tipped pass thrown behind Zach Ertz.

Los Angeles rookie Byron Young forced a fumble while sacking Dobbs later in the half.