Vikings will be more prepared for Rams' Puka Nacua this time around

Nacua was the most efficient wide receiver in football this season.

Oct 24, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua (17) runs the ball against against the Minnesota Vikings during the first half at SoFi Stadium. / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Back in October, when the Vikings traveled to LA to play the Rams on a short week, it didn't appear at first as though Puka Nacua was going to play. His 21-day practice window had just been opened on Tuesday, but there he was on Thursday night, having been activated from injured reserve earlier that day. He went on to lead the Rams with seven receptions for 106 yards in their 30-20 win at SoFi Stadium.

The Vikings knew Cooper Kupp (who had five receptions and a touchdown) was going to return from his own injury and play in that game. But Nacua's presence caught them off guard a bit, defensive coordinator Brian Flores said this week.

"Quite honestly, we were a little bit surprised that he was out there, that he was brought up," Flores said. "And it was a night game on a Thursday, so we found out — let's call it four hours before the game. You know, we had seen a little bit of him from the previous year, but not much this year. So there was a little bit of scrambling. We know he's going to be out there now, this time out. And we'll do a better job, or I'll do a better job of making sure our guys are prepared from that standpoint."

Beginning with that Vikings game, Nacua was one of the best wide receivers in the league after overcoming his early-season injury. He had at least 97 receiving yards in seven of the Rams' final ten games. After putting up nearly 1,500 yards last season as a fifth-round rookie, his pace this season would've seen him exceed that mark if he had played in all 17 games.

From an efficiency standpoint, there was no one better in 2024. Nacua averaged an incredible 3.56 yards per route run on 278 routes. For context, A.J. Brown ranked second in that stat with 2.99 YPRR. On a much larger sample size, Justin Jefferson was fifth at 2.50. Nacua also led all receivers in PFF grade and finished third in catch percentage behind only Amon-Ra St. Brown and Khalil Shakir.

Nacua has all the tools you want out of a receiver — size, athleticism, route-running ability, contested catch skills, the juice to break tackles and pick up big chunks after the catch. He's a major weapon who has outstanding chemistry with Matthew Stafford. The Vikings will need to come into Monday night's playoff game with a plan on how they're going defend him, while acknowledging that Kupp remains dangerous as well, even if he had a quiet finish to the regular season. Defending those two receivers will be a crucial task for cornerbacks Byron Murphy Jr., Stephon Gilmore, and Shaq Griffin.

Last time the Vikings had to head west to play the Rams after a tough loss to the Lions, they had just three full days in between games. This time, they have seven. They won't be caught off guard by anything on Monday night.

"Little bit different circumstances this time around, and that's normal for the playoffs," Kevin O'Connell told Paul Allen. "Your cards are kinda dealt face up at this point, and everybody kinda knows what we're dealing with. Playoff football comes down to such little details, discipline of those details in the moment, snap after snap after snap. And the team that does those things just a little bit better is gonna win the football game."

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