Los Angeles Rams (9-3) at Arizona (3-9)
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EST, Fox.
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Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon walks on the sideline during the first half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker SirVocea Dennis (8) forces an intentional grounding by Arizona Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett (7) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua catches a pass over Carolina Panthers cornerback Mike Jackson during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is sacked by Carolina Panthers safety Lathan Ransom during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)
BetMGM NFL odds: Rams by 8.
Against the spread: Rams 8-4, Cardinals 6-6.
Series record: Rams lead 51-41-2.
Last meeting: Rams beat the Cardinals 13-9 on Nov. 28, 2024, in Inglewood, California.
Last week: Rams lost to the Panthers 31-28; Cardinals lost to the Bucs 20-17.
Rams offense: overall (8), rush (19), pass (4), scoring (6).
Rams defense: overall (13), rush (14), pass (14), scoring (2).
Cardinals offense: overall (16), rush (24), pass (8), scoring (20).
Cardinals defense: overall (19), rush (16), pass (21), scoring (24).
Turnover differential: Rams plus-9; Cardinals plus-2.
QB Matthew Stafford turned in his first real dud of the season, turning the ball over three times in the shocking loss at the Panthers. He ended a run of eight straight games without an interception by throwing two picks and had one returned 48 yards for a touchdown. Stafford also took a strip-sack with Los Angeles in position to at least kick a tying field goal late in the fourth quarter. Now up to 32 touchdown passes against four interceptions, Stafford will need a big response this week as Seattle and San Francisco are still lurking in the NFC West race.
Edge rusher Josh Sweat had two more sacks against the Buccaneers to bring his season total to 11. The Cardinals have had many disappointing performances this season, but Sweat isn't among them, providing exactly what the franchise hoped when he was signed to a $76.4 million, four-year deal during the offseason.
Cardinals QB Jacoby Brissett has four 300-yard passing games this season, which is tied for the most in the NFL. Brissett threw for 301 yards last week against the Buccaneers. He'll get a test against the Rams' defense, which has been solid against the pass and is giving up the second-fewest points in the league.
Rams: RB Kyren Williams (ankle), S Kamren Kinchens (shoulder), LB Omar Speights (ankle) and OLB Byron Young (knee) were limited in practice, but coach Sean McVay expects all four will be available to play. CB Darious Williams (tibia) and NT Poona Ford (calf) were held out of practice this week, so those could be more serious ailments.
Cardinals: WR Marvin Harrison Jr. (heel), CB Max Melton (heel), WR Greg Dortch (chest) and S Dadrion Taylor-Demerson (ankle) were among eight players who didn't practice Wednesday.
The Cardinals have lost six of their past eight games against the Rams but thumped them 41-10 in the most recent meeting in Glendale, Arizona, on Sept. 15, 2024. … Prior to that humbling defeat, the Rams had won nine straight as the visiting team.
Stafford needs one completion to break a tie with Ben Roethlisberger (5,440) for seventh all time. … WR Davante Adams has 14 touchdown receptions from the 10 and in this season, with nine coming inside the 5. That is the most in NFL history in a single season, having broken a tie with WR Randy Moss (8 in 2004) and TE Bubba Franks (8 in 2001) when Adams caught a 4-yard score in the first quarter against the Panthers. … Adams’ 12 red zone touchdowns rank third in the NFL. He is the only wide receiver in the top six. … The Rams are third in the league in takeaways with 19, and their 12 interceptions are tied for fourth most. … OLB Byron Young is the first Rams defender with 10 sacks through 12 games since DT Aaron Donald (11) in 2020. … RB Kyren Williams had 13 carries for 72 yards and a touchdown against the Panthers. He has averaged more than 5 yards per carry in three of his past four games after doing it once in the first eight games of the season. … The Rams rank third in the NFL in sack rate (4.1%). ... The game features two of the four NFL players who have at least 230 career starts. Arizona DL Calais Campbell (254) and Stafford (234) have a combined 488 starts between them. ... Arizona TE Trey McBride has caught 88 passes for 879 yards and eight TDs this season, leading the NFL in all categories for a tight end. ... Brissett has thrown for at least 300 yards in each of the past three games. He'll make his eighth straight start in place of the injured Kyler Murray ... Arizona WR Michael Wilson has already set career highs with 50 catches for 570 yards this season. ... McBride has caught 14 TD passes over his four-year career. Seven of them have come over his past seven games. ... The Cardinals have nine losses this season and seven of them have come by four points or fewer. ... The Cardinals have had 72 players appear in at least one game this season. Only the Jets (73) have had more.
Arizona WR Michael Wilson might be a strong play on Sunday depending on the status of Marvin Harrison Jr., who is dealing with a heel injury. When Harrison was out for two games in November, Wilson put up huge numbers with 25 catches for 303 yards.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon walks on the sideline during the first half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker SirVocea Dennis (8) forces an intentional grounding by Arizona Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett (7) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)
Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua catches a pass over Carolina Panthers cornerback Mike Jackson during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is sacked by Carolina Panthers safety Lathan Ransom during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Navy admiral commanding the U.S. military strikes on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean told lawmakers Thursday that there was no “kill them all” order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, but a stark video of the attack left grave questions as Congress scrutinizes the campaign that killed two survivors.
Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley appeared for a series of closed-door classified briefings at the Capitol as lawmakers conduct an investigation after a report that he ordered the follow-on attack that killed the survivors to comply with Hegesth’s demands. Legal experts have said such a strike could be a violation of the laws of military warfare.
“Bradley was very clear that he was given no such order, to give no quarter or to kill them all,” said Sen. Tom Cotton, who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, as he exited a classified briefing.
While Cotton, R-Ark., defended the attack, Democrats who were also briefed and saw video of the survivors being killed questioned the Trump administration’s rationale and said the incident was deeply concerning.
“The order was basically: Destroy the drugs, kill the 11 people on the boat,” said Washington Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.
Smith, who is demanding further investigation, said the survivors were “basically two shirtless people clinging to the bow of a capsized and inoperable boat, drifting in the water — until the missiles come and kill them.”
The classified sessions with Bradley, alongside the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, provided fresh information at a crucial moment as Hegseth's leadership comes under scrutiny. But they did little to resolve growing questions about the legal basis for President Donald Trump's extraordinary campaign to use war powers against suspected drug smugglers. So far more than 80 people have been killed in some 20 strikes.
Lawmakers have not yet specifically authorized the use of military force against the alleged drug boats, and the Republican-controlled Congress has turned back attempts to put a check on Trump’s power to engage in the missile campaign, which Hegseth has vowed will continue. Several Democrats have called for Hegseth to resign.
Lawmakers want a full accounting of the Sept. 2 strike, which was the first in what has become a monthslong series of U.S. military attacks on vessels near Venezuela believed to be ferrying drugs. The Washington Post had reported that Bradley ordered the follow-on attack on the survivors.
But lawmakers who lead the House and Senate's national security committees in Congress came away with different descriptions of what the two survivors were doing when they were killed.
Cotton said he saw them "trying to flip a boat loaded with drugs bound for United States back over so they could stay in the fight.”
He said there were “several minutes” between the first and second attacks, which consisted of four missile strikes. He said it was “gratifying” that the U.S. military was taking “the battle” to cartels.
But Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said, “what I saw in that room was one of the most troubling things I've seen in my time in public service.”
“You have two individuals in clear distress, without any means of locomotion, with a destroyed vessel," he said, and who "were killed by the United States."
The survivors did not issue any distress call or other communications, though lawmakers were told it appeared the people had a hand raised, “waving” at one point during the attacks, Smith said.
Smith acknowledged there was likely cocaine on the boat, but he objects to the Republican administration’s rationale for continued attacks on alleged drug runners who may or may not be heading to the United States. “That’s really the core of the problem with all of this,” he said. “That incredibly broad definition, I think, is what sets in motion all of these problems about using lethal force and using the military.”
At the time of the attack, Bradley was the commander of Joint Special Operations Command, overseeing coordinated operations between the military's elite special operations units out of Fort Bragg in North Carolina. About a month after the strike, he was promoted to commander of U.S. Special Operations Command.
His military career, spanning more than three decades, was mostly spent serving in the elite Navy SEALs and commanding joint operations. He was among the first special forces officers to deploy to Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks. His latest promotion to admiral was approved by unanimous voice vote in the Senate this year, and Democratic and Republican senators praised his record.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has described Bradley as among those who are “rock solid” and “the most extraordinary people that have ever served in the military.”
But lawmakers like Tillis have also made it clear they expect a reckoning if it is found that survivors were targeted. “Anybody in the chain of command that was responsible for it, that had vision of it, needs to be held accountable,” he said.
Underpinning Trump’s campaign against suspected traffickers is his argument that drug cartels amount to armed combatants because their cargo poses a threat to American lives.
Democrats are demanding the release of the full video of the Sept. 2 attack, as well as written records of the orders and any directives about the mission from Hegseth. None of the written orders or audio of verbal commands was shared with the lawmakers.
A White House Office of Legal Counsel memo providing a rationale for the strikes was dated after the fact, on Sept. 5. That memo remains undisclosed, and Democrats want it released.
Obtaining further information, though, will largely depend on action from Republican lawmakers, who have majority control of the committees, a potentially painful prospect for them if it puts them at odds with the president.
Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said that he and the Senate Armed Services Committee chair, GOP Sen. Roger Wicker, have formally requested the executive orders authorizing the operations and the complete videos from the strikes, among other items. The Trump administration has repeatedly denied their requests for basic information about the operation, Reed said.
Republican lawmakers who are close to Trump have largely stood by Hegseth and the administration's decision to conduct the strikes.
Many, including Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, see the U.S. military operation as part of an effort to prompt a government change in the South American country. Maduro on Wednesday acknowledged speaking last month by phone with Trump, who confirmed the call days earlier.
Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick and Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.
U.S. Navy Adm. Frank M. Bradley walks along a hallway after a meeting with senators on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
U.S. Navy Adm. Frank M. Bradley, right, accompanied by Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, left, walks to a meeting with senators on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., leaves after a meeting with U.S. Navy Adm. Frank M. Bradley on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., leaves after a meeting with U.S. Navy Adm. Frank M. Bradley on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
U.S. Navy Adm. Frank M. Bradley, accompanied by Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, right, walks to a meeting with senators on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
U.S. Navy Adm. Frank M. Bradley, accompanied by Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, right, walks to a meeting with senators on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
U.S. Navy Adm. Frank M. Bradley walks to a meeting with senators on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
U.S. Navy Adm. Frank M. Bradley, accompanied by Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, right, walks to a meeting with senators on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
The closed entrance to a secure room is seen where Navy Adm. Frank "Mitch" Bradley, commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command, is expected to brief top congressional lawmakers overseeing national security as they investigate how Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth handled a military strike on a suspected drug smuggling boat and its crew in the Caribbean near Venezuela Sept. 2, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
FILE - Admiral Frank M. Bradley testifies during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to examine his nomination to be admiral and Commander, United States Special Operation Command, July 22, 2025, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, file)
