Wild-Card Rapid Reaction: Rams Overcome Devastating Week, Roll Over Vikings
After a devastating week, the Los Angeles Rams gave their city a brief distraction and burst of positivity during a dominant victory over the Minnesota Vikings to advance to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs.
Matthew Stafford picked apart Brian Flores’s Vikings defense while the Rams’ rising defense gave Sam Darnold plenty of fits. The Rams delivered a complete performance in the 27–9 wild-card victory that took place in Glendale, Ariz. It was supposed to be a home game for the Rams, but the game was moved from SoFi Stadium to State Farm Stadium while Los Angeles battled the wildfires that forced thousands of people to evacuate, with many of them losing their homes.
But a big chunk of Rams fans made the trip to Arizona and their presence was noticeable after a strong start for the home team in the neutral site. Now the Rams will move on to face the Philadelphia Eagles on the road for a divisional showdown Sunday. But before we focus on that game, let’s examine the key takeaways from the Rams’ victory over the Vikings.
Sam Darnold can’t be the starter in Minnesota next season
A once difficult decision has now become easy for the Vikings—they need to let Darnold walk in free agency.
Somehow Darnold got worse from his poor Week 18 performance against the Detroit Lions that cost the Vikings the NFC’s No. 1 seed and forced them to enter the postseason as a wild-card team. Darnold panicked often and held the ball too long against the Rams’ defensive front.
Initially, it seemed Minnesota’s offensive line was solely to blame for the constant pressure, but then Darnold threw an ugly interception to Cobie Durant and failed to see the blitz on his fumble that led to a touchdown return from rookie edge rusher Jared Verse, giving the Rams a 17–3 advantage before halftime. Darnold finished 25-of-40 for 245 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
In the two biggest games of the season, Darnold reverted back to his old New York Jet ways of overthinking and not having answers amid tough situations. When the Vikings were piling up wins, Darnold was decisive and distributed the ball to many Minnesota playmakers. Not even All-Pro receiver Justin Jefferson (five catches, 58 yards) was able to help Darnold with what transpired Monday night.
In Darnold’s defense, there wasn’t much of a running game and coach Kevin O’Connell had a dreadful performance calling offensive plays. But legitimate franchise quarterbacks are supposed to make something out of nothing and inspire confidence. It’s clear that the Vikings need to be clicking on all cylinders for Darnold to perform well.
Unless Darnold is O.K. with merely keeping the seat warm for rookie J.J. McCarthy, the team’s 2024 first-round pick who was out for the season with a knee injury, the team needs to thank Darnold for a postseason appearance and let him search for a starting gig elsewhere. It no longer makes sense to slap the $41 million franchise tag on the 27-year-old.
Darnold probably cost himself plenty of money with brutal back-to-back performances against the Lions and Rams. He’ll now have a buyer-beware label before free agency, but that shouldn’t be the Vikings’ problem with McCarthy waiting in the wings.
Rams DC Chris Shula delivers masterful defensive game plan
Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores entered Monday night as an attractive option for teams with head-coaching vacancies. Perhaps Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula should also get a few interviews after his defense tied a playoff record with nine sacks.
Maybe it’s too soon for the 38-year-old Shula, the grandson of legendary Dolphins coach Don Shula, to land a job as a head coach, but he could quickly move up the coaching rankings, especially if he calls more games the way he did against the Vikings.
The Rams have excelled at creating pressure without sending extra help thanks to Verse, Braden Fiske, Byron Young, Kobie Turner and Michael Hoecht. But once Shula saw Darnold overthinking against the pressure, he got aggressive by calling blitz plays with his defensive backs. Cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon had the hit that led to Darnold fumbling for the scoop-and-score. Durant also recorded a sack.
Shula has taken advantage of Rams GM Les Snead investing heavily on the defensive line in the past two drafts, but it was his coaching and scheme that allowed a suspect secondary and a weak group of linebackers to adjust and develop as the season went on. It all came together on the big stage to stifle Darnold, Jefferson and the rest of the Vikings’ prolific offense.
Concerns of an inconsistent offense not an issue for Stafford & Co.
Even with all the weapons, the Rams had a problem with consistency during the regular season, leaning on their emerging defense to secure the NFC West title.
Stafford and his offense went cold after dropping 44 points on the Buffalo Bills in Week 14. From there, Los Angeles was held under 20 points for three consecutive games while the defense played lights out and held opponents under 10 points in the same contests to wrap up the NFC West.
But the Rams quickly got their offense going against the Vikings, producing a handful of explosive plays on a seven-play, 70-yard touchdown drive. Stafford opened the game by going 11-of-12 for 124 yards and one touchdown. He finished 19-of-27 for 209 yards and two touchdowns. There were some lull moments for the Rams’ offense in the first half, but they received a confidence boost with Verse’s defensive touchdown.
That’s what makes the Rams dangerous. Even after a sluggish stretch, they’re always capable of bouncing back at the right time thanks to a savvy quarterback in Stafford, talented personnel featuring Puka Nacua and Kyren Williams and one of the brightest offensive minds in the NFL in coach Sean McVay, who got the best of his former offensive coordinator O’Connell.
Rams get home setting in Arizona
Judging from the color combination of blue and purple in the stands, the crowd in Arizona appeared evenly split—the ESPN broadcast estimated that 51% of the tickets went to Vikings fans.
But Rams fans were clearly louder in the first quarter because they had plenty to cheer about early, from emotional pregame performances to a fast start that gave Los Angeles an early seven-point lead. Rams fans erupted after Stafford found Puka Nacua for 27 yards on the first play of the game. They were just as loud after Byron Young’s sack that led to Minnesota having a three-and-out on its opening drive.
It was easy to forget that the Rams weren’t in Los Angeles with their team logo at midfield and a robust crowd that cheered for positive plays. But Vikings fans also gave Stafford fits, forcing McVay to call an early timeout in the first quarter due to communication issues. Vikings fans were livid in the second quarter after officials overturned a scoop-and-score fumble return, saying Stafford’s hand was moving forward for an incompletion.
Had the game stayed at SoFi Stadium, there probably would have been just as many Vikings fans in the stands in Inglewood. That just comes with the territory of playing in a diverse city such as Los Angeles with plenty of transplants from cold cities.
The Rams were ready for the neutral-site obstacles and felt at home thanks to a quick 10–0 advantage that ballooned to 24–3 by halftime. The Rams would finally get their home playoff game if the Washington Commanders beat the Lions on Saturday and they handle business in Philadelphia. Plenty would need to happen for that, but that would be a special game for Los Angeles.
Vikings’ defensive performance could hurt Flores with job interviews
Flores already had plenty to overcome to land a second shot as a head coach after a rocky ending with the Miami Dolphins that included a poor relationship with Tua Tagovailoa.
But it appeared that Flores was going to land that second opportunity after back-to-back seasons of producing stout defenses in Minnesota. Maybe that won’t be the case after what transpired the past two weeks against Stafford’s Rams and Jared Goff’s Lions. It’s unfair to judge a coach or player from just two games, but Flores already had an uphill battle because of how ugly it got during his stint in Miami.
On the positive side, Flores now has plenty of time to deliver his best pitches during his head coaching interviews in the coming days.