Carson Palmer enjoys a successful return to the Coliseum

Carson Palmer enjoyed a happy homecoming to the Coliseum.

The former USC star passed for 255 yards and three touchdowns Sunday in the Arizona Cardinals’ 44-6 victory over the Rams.

Palmer, 37, was playing at the Coliseum for the first time since Nov. 30, 2002, when he clinched the Heisman Trophy in a victory over Notre Dame.

Palmer said it was “great” to be back.

“I never dreamt I would get an opportunity to play in this facility again, and it was everything I could have asked for and more,” said Palmer, who completed 20 of 38 passes, with one interception. “It was a beautiful day.”

Palmer passed for 26 touchdowns, with 14 interceptions, for a Cardinals team that finished 7-8-1.

In 13 NFL seasons with the Bengals, Oakland Raiders and Cardinals, Palmer has passed for 44,269 yards and 285 touchdowns, with 180 interceptions.

Illegal motion

The Rams scored what appeared to be an apparent touchdown when Tavon Austin took a direct snap and ran 38 yards to the end zone after quarterback Jared Goff broke from the huddle, approached the line of scrimmage and then moved to his left.

The play was nullified because of an illegal-motion penalty against Goff.

“The quarterback has to, when he walked up to the line of scrimmage, if he gets within a yard of the center, after he goes into motion, he must stop,” referee Craig Wrolstad said after the game. “So, our ruling was, he didn’t get set for a second behind the center and as he went in motion — since he was near the center — he goes in motion, he then has to stop then, and he didn’t stop.

“He just continued in motion, so we had illegal motion. And that happened long before the play had been snapped.”

He also addressed a personal-foul penalty against cornerback Trumaine Johnson that preceded a field goal in the final seconds of the first half. Johnson appeared to be pushed by a Cardinals player before he hit another player who was out of bounds.

Could the push by the Arizona player, and the momentum it created, have factored into Johnson’s contact?

“If his momentum carried him into him, I’m sure it would,” Wrolstad said. “But, if it was a second act where he was able to regain his feet and hit him unnecessarily then I guess that’s the reason why he would be called.

“We didn’t discuss the push because he didn’t have a penalty for that. We discussed the hit that was well out of bounds.”

Mind games

Tight end Lance Kendricks acknowledged that the firing of coach Jeff Fisher after a 42-14 loss to Atlanta on Dec. 11 was a mental blow to the Rams, who lost their three games under interim Coach John Fassel by a combined score of 90-30.

“As a human, when you take away your head coach, it makes you less motivated to play,” Kendricks said. “No one held their head down. We tried to fight as a team. We practiced hard. We didn’t slack off. But it comes down to execution, and we didn’t execute.”

2017 schedule

Besides their six games home and away against NFC West opponents next season, the Rams will play Philadelphia, Washington, Houston, Indianapolis and New Orleans at home, and the New York Giants, Dallas, Jacksonville, Tennessee and Minnesota on the road. One of their home games will be against Arizona in London.

Quick hits

Linebacker Mark Barron said he would have surgery on his left shoulder for a torn labrum and a bruised rotator cuff. The procedure shouldn’t affect his 2017 season. Barron said he played with the injury since Week 1. … Fassel acknowledged a scuffle ensued outside the locker room at halftime after defensive lineman Dominique Easley and a Cardinals player “started some kind of banter.” Easley said he was not involved in an exchange: “I was just trying to break it up. I don’t know what happened.” … Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson returned to the sideline for the first time since Fisher was fired as coach Dec. 12. “I said I would come out after the stuff that went down with me and Jeff,” Dickerson said as the Rams warmed up before the game. “I wanted to come back for the last game of the season, for sure. Like I said before, I always support my team. I love the Rams.” … Johnny Hekker capped a Pro Bowl season with seven punts for 337 yards, including a 73-yard effort — his third of 70 yards or more this season — in the first quarter. He finished the season with 98 punts for 4,680 yards, a 47.8-yard average, and placed an NFL-record 51 punts inside the 20-yard line. Hekker also completed a four-yard pass to Chase Reynolds in punt formation for a first down in the third quarter.