Senior Writer

In a season where the only breaks the Rams seem to catch are to their bones, Sunday’s game against the Cardinals brought about a whole new set of unfortunate bounces, head scratching calls and ultimately another disappointing defeat.

Arizona used a variety of fortuitous hops and strange calls to beat the Rams 34-31 at the Edward Jones Dome on Sunday.

With the loss, the Rams drop to 0-5 on the season, the first time since 2002 the team has gotten off to such a start. The Cardinals improved to 3-2 with the victory.

But it was the way Arizona got the win that left Rams players, coaches and fans in disbelief Sunday.

“I have never been a part of anything like this on any level,” returner Dante Hall said. “Not being able to win, not getting any calls, not making plays consistently, injuries. I have just never been a part of it. I couldn’t tell you what it is. I don’t think anyone can. It’s unbelievable what has happened to this team.”

Instead of the struggling offensive performances of recent weeks or the laundry list of injuries, the Rams fell victim to an opportunistic Arizona offense and some bizarre officiating in Sunday’s game.

After a hot start in which the Rams jumped out to a 10-3 lead on receiver Drew Bennett’s 16-yard touchdown catch, things began to get strange.

Arizona drove deep into St. Louis territory to set up a second-and-goal at the Rams 6. Running back Edgerrin James took the handoff and burst up the middle. Linebacker Will Witherspoon hit James short of the goal line and James lost the ball as he fell to the ground.

The ball squirted forward into the end zone and four Rams converged on the ball. Rookie cornerback Jonathan Wade appeared to fall on the ball, but never secured it as Arizona guard Reggie Wells came up with the ball.

The initial call from the side was a touchdown for James, who clearly didn’t break the plane of the goal line. Rams coach Scott Linehan challenged the call on the field in hopes that it would be ruled that James was down by contact or possibly that Wade had the ball and was down by contact.

“It wasn’t sufficient for me because I felt like it was not a touchdown,” Linehan said. “I told them to review it. His knee might have been down, I don’t know. We know he didn’t cross the goal line. We thought our player fell on the ball and was touched.”

The review didn’t yield any of those results as the call on the field stood. It was later changed to a fumble recovery and touchdown for Wells instead of the initial ruling for James.

Referee Gerry Austin gave a strange and confusing response in a pool report after the game. The initial review said there wasn’t enough evidence to change the call, but it was later changed to be called a fumble recovery.

It didn’t help that Austin never saw an opposite side view which should have been available to him and that same view later revealed that James was indeed down by contact.

“We didn’t have any shots in replay that would give us visual evidence to change it so we had to stay with the call on the field,” Austin said. “My understanding is that later they had a shot that showed James’ elbow was down but we never had that in replay.”

As if that pill wasn’t tough enough to swallow, a wild finish to the first half resulted in another seven-point swing.

With the Rams leading 13-10, Arizona had moved to the Rams’ 1 as time ran down. James ran for no gain on first down. The Cardinals had no timeouts remaining and the clock was running out.

As the defense scrambled to get back onsides, the referees placed the ball back on the 1 with the clock about to expire. Center Al Johnson appeared to lose his handle on the ball as he grabbed it and it got away.

The clock ran out and the Rams attempted to run into the locker room with the lead. Instead, Austin called them back and threw a flag a good two minutes after the clock ran out.

The call was delay of game as Austin said a pair of Rams kicked the ball. According to Austin , at least one of those Rams kicked it deliberately. After the game, cornerback Ron Bartell said he was one of the culprits but he by no means did it on purpose.

“It’s a strange situation,” Bartell said. “Obviously, I wasn’t looking at the ground; I was just walking to try to get to my man. I felt something hit my foot and I looked down and it just happened to be the ball.”

Given a reprieve, Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner leaped over the defensive line for a touchdown with no time left on the clock. That score gave Arizona a 17-13 lead.

“A guy accidentally hits the ball with his foot and they call a penalty,” Linehan said. “There’s nothing we can do about it. It’s a judgment call, in that case a pretty good break for them.”

While the defense was doing its best to overcome some mistakes and tough breaks, the offense appeared to finally find a rhythm. After going without a touchdown in the first quarter, the unit’s string of 32 consecutive possessions without a touchdown came to an end early in the second quarter.

Quarterback Gus Frerotte finished with three touchdown passes and 262 yards. Brian Leonard ran for 102 yards on 18 carries and Torry Holt had five catches for 89 yards and a touchdown. All told, the offense racked up 375 total yards.

But the offensive performance was far from perfect. Frerotte threw three interceptions including one that was returned by cornerback Roderick Hood for a 68-yard touchdown that gave Arizona a 27-20 lead.

Perhaps the biggest hindrance to a dominant offensive day, though, was penalties. The Rams racked up nine penalties for 86 yards. Arizona had 11 for 98 yards, but it seemed the Rams’ penalties came at the worst times.

Right guard Richie Incognito had four penalties (two holds, two personal fouls) for 50 yards. Holt was flagged for an offensive pass interference penalty on a play that resulted in the Rams getting the ball at Arizona ’s 5 and could have lead to the tying touchdown. Instead, it moved the Rams back 10 yards and they had to settle for a field goal.

“It’s pretty devastating to have penalties, especially ones that happen before or after the snap,” Linehan said. “They are unacceptable, they hurt the football team.”

At 0-5, the Rams made some strides in most areas of the game Sunday, but it wasn’t quite enough to get over the hump. Linehan and Co. did not make excuses for the loss, refusing to blame some questionable calls.

For instance on the James’ fumble play, four Rams seemed to have a shot at the ball and couldn’t come up with it.

Still, with luck already seeming to work against them, a little outside help probably wouldn’t hurt in helping the team pick up its first win.

“We get a break, possibly and then we don’t get it to go our way,” Hall said. “I thought it was a touchback. Once he was down, he got touched, touchback. Obviously that wasn’t the rule. At that moment, I am sure everyone was like, ‘Oh my God, can we please get a break?’ you almost want to get on your knees and ask God.”