They promise improvement, but it will have to come Sunday against a team with maybe the best defense in Los Angeles Rams Hoodie the NFL, the Rams, and in Los Angeles yet."If you look at them on paper," Arizona quarterback Sam Bradford said, "they're probably one of the more talented units in the league. The way they played the second half last week, they played really well. So, I think it's definitely a big challenge for us, but we've accepted that. We're putting in the work getting ready for them."This will be the first time Bradford has faced the Rams, the franchise that drafted him No. 1 overall and gave him the last of the huge rookie contracts ($50 million guaranteed) before he went on to an injury-plagued career in St. Louis. Bradford left the Rams after missing the entire 2014 season with a knee injury. That was two years before the team moved back to Los Angeles.So the game has no special meaning to him, he said."I think if it would have happened sooner in my career," he said Wednesday, "maybe there would be more, but the staff there is completely different. There's only a handful of guys on that roster that were there when I was there. So there's just really not a lot of connection that's still there for me."What does grab his and the rest of the offense's attention is the need for improvement. Arizona had the ball three times, two of them three-and-outs, and ran 14 plays in the first half against the Redskins, falling behind 21-0 and throwing out the game plan Customized Los Angeles Rams Jerseys , which was to have been centered on the running of David Johnson."We've got to come up big on third downs. We've really got to focus on third down and picking that up," right guard Justin Pugh said.Arizona converted 1-of-8 third down opportunities in Sunday's loss, 0-for-3 in the first half. For the game, the Cardinals managed 213 yards of offense to the Redskins' 429."The encouraging thing, when we looked at the film, is there weren't any major glaring breakdowns," he said.Just a lot of little things that went wrong.Now bring on the potent Rams, who scored 23 unanswered points to wrap up a 33-13 win at Oakland on Monday night.First-year Cardinals coach Steve Wilks said his offense remains a work in progress."Early in the season, I think it's still learning," said Wilks, the defensive coordinator at Carolina last season who's turned the offense over to coordinator Mike McCoy. "I think we're still learning each other. Players are (learning) the timing. ... It's a process you've got to continue to go through, and we're still in the early stages."Against Washington, the only wide receiver besides Larry Fitzgerald to catch a pass was rookie Christian Kirk, who caught a four-yarder. That has to change, Bradford and Wilks said. The team needs to get Kirk and second-year pro Chad Williams more involved."I think there are some things we can probably do game plan-wise to get them going a little bit," Bradford said, "some easy completions www.authenticslosangelesrams.com , some things out there, just get the ball in their hands and then kind of build from there."Of course, they will have to do it against that bruising Rams defense.The Cardinals quarterback smiled when told that defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh marks the calendar every time he faces Bradford because he wants to hit him."Great," he said. "I get it. I think everyone wants to hit me. I think that's kind of how it goes."Notes: DE Markus Golden, recovering from major knee surgery, worked out on a limited basis. He said he was following trainers' orders and didn't know if he'd be ready to play Sunday. ... Starting RT Andre Smith has a sore elbow and it's not known if he will go Sunday, either. An MRI showed no structural damage. ... S Antoine Bethea, S Tre Boston and DL Corey Peters met with Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Tuesday to discuss the criminal justice system. "We're all human beings. We all live in this world," Bethea said. "We all see what happens, especially with the camera phones nowadays. We're all smart people. We all see what happens. We all know there's inequality in this world so we can't be naive to that even though you want to be. ... We were able to sit there and talk about those problems yesterday." The meeting was set up by Cardinals President Michael Bidwill. Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips found a box of doughnuts at his desk on Monday morning as a reward for shutting out Arizona 34-0.The treats have become a tradition for Phillips when his defense keeps the opposition scoreless, one that has even extended to West Sioux High School in Hawarden, Iowa, as the Falcons let Phillips know on Twitter this week after their varsity and junior varsity teams each recorded shutouts.Earning another box of doughnuts this week will be a much more difficult task when the Rams host quarterback Philip Rivers and the Chargers on Sunday.Phillips was the defensive coordinator in San Diego when the Chargers drafted Rivers in 2004. Now in his 14th season starting for the Chargers, Rivers is the same savvy player Phillips remembers working with in the Senior Bowl at the start of the evaluation process."You can't fool him," Phillips said Thursday. "He's going to know what you are in, and that's where he excels over most quarterbacks and makes him an elite quarterback."Any kind of blitz you run, he'll audible to the right protection Los Angeles Rams T-Shirt , all those things. He basically throws to the weakness of the defense on every play. He's been doing that for a long time and he continues to do that."Rivers' understanding of defenses negates some of the advantage Phillips' tactical acumen provides and puts more pressure on Rams players to win their one-on-one matchups.Phillips hopes his defensive front can take advantage of a Chargers offensive line that will be without right tackle Joe Barksdale because of a knee injury, allowing the secondary to keep Rivers, who has completed 73.1 percent of his passes for 680 yards and six touchdowns with one interception, in check.While the defensive line of Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Suh and Michael Brockers have combined for one sack through two games, Phillips is largely pleased with how they are performing.Phillips said the trio is creating pressure, but Cardinals quarterback Sam Bradford and Oakland's Derek Carr were effective in throwing the ball quickly to prevent sacks.Phillips is also getting contributions from outside linebackers Samson Ebukam, Dominique Easley and Matt Longacre. Ebukam brought down Bradford for the Rams' second sack of the season, and Easley drew a holding penalty.Knowing that Rivers will be more willing to test the Rams with a vertical passing game than their first two opponents, Phillips hopes his pass rush will be able to impose themselves more forcefully."He's like every quarterback that gets a lot of pressure, it's going to be tougher for him," Phillips said. "Sometimes those windows are down the field and take some time. If we get in the right defenses where he has to throw down the field and we get some pressure, then it's an advantage for us."The Rams had the edge against Arizona, limiting them to 137 yards and five first downs. The defense has not allowed a point in six consecutive quarters, but Brockers said the streak has not been a factor in their performance."We haven't really focused on the 'oh man, let's keep them scoreless,'" Brockers said. "We just going out there to execute. If we execute the calls Los Angeles Rams Hats , coaches feel like they should get anything, and that's what's been happening."Instead, Phillips believes the quality of Rivers and the Chargers offense has been the best motivation for the Rams this week."I think them having such a prolific offense, it's not as hard to say 'these guys can really play' because you can see it on the film," Phillips said. "That challenge for good players and guys that want to be good players, they want to play against somebody that is a challenge. And this is going to be a huge challenge."If it leads to more doughnuts, Phillips will take it."They're hard to come by, those zeros in this league are hard to come by," Phillips said. "I haven't had very many in my career, and I've had a long career. It's an accomplishment, no matter who you are playing, to hold somebody to zero in this league."NOTES: C John Sullivan (ankle) did not practice, and Brockers (shoulder) was limited. However, coach Sean McVay expects both Sullivan and Brockers to play this week. "It's more just maintenance with these guys," McVay said.

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