Dominant Rams makes themselves at home in Arizona with rout of Vikings
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Now that’s what you call making yourself right at home, even if it was nearly 400 miles away.
Because of safety concerns caused by wildfires in Southern California, the NFL moved the Rams’ NFC wild-card game against the Minnesota Vikings from SoFi Stadium to State Farm Stadium.
But the Rams — on a mission to win and also lift the spirits of their devastated hometown — did not flinch Monday night.
The defense dominated and Matthew Stafford passed for two touchdowns in a 27-9 victory that advanced the Rams to an NFC divisional round playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
Rams dominate against Sam Darnold and Vikings, will play Eagles next
🏈 Rams 27, Vikings 9 — FINAL
Behind a stellar pass rush that sacked Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold nine times, the Rams punched their ticket to the divisional round with a dominating wild-card victory Monday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
The Rams will play the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday at noon PST.
The fourth quarter turned into a punt-fest, with neither team scoring. The Rams scored 24 of their 27 points in the first half.
Matthew Stafford connected on 19 of 27 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns. Kyren Williams rushed for 76 yards on 16 yards. He also caught a touchdown pass.
Tight end Tyler Higbee, who left the game in the first half after sustaining a chest injury, caught five passes for 58 yards.
Neville Gallimore and Byron Young each had 1.5 sacks for the Rams. Cobie Durant had an interception.
The Rams’ nine sacks tied an NFL playoff record.
Check out the game summary from the Rams’ win Monday.
Rams still hold on to 27-9 lead late in the fourth quarter
🏈 Rams 27, Vikings 9 — 7:25 left in the fourth quarter
Both teams haven’t done much on offense since the T.J. Hockenson touchdown late in the third quarter.
The Rams have punted twice, with their latest possession going nowhere after it started with penalties on four of the first five plays.
Earlier, the Vikings pieced together an 11-play drive and were on the edge of field-goal range before Braden Fiske and Michael Hoecht sacked Sam Darnold on third down.
Matthew Stafford has completed 19 of 27 passes for 209 yards, with two touchdowns. Darnold has completed 19 of 30 passes for 197 yards, with a touchdown and interception.
Vikings find some life on offense with T.J. Hockenson TD
🏈 Rams 27, Vikings 9 — 5:05 left in the third quarter
Sam Darnold connected with tight end T.J. Hockenson for a 26-yard touchdown, but the two-point conversion pass failed.
Darnold has completed 17 of 25 passes for 180 yards.
Star receiver Justin Jefferson has five catches for 58 yards, Hockenson four for 54.
Rams cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon was assisted off the field by trainers after the touchdown. Witherspoon sustained a thigh injury and is doubtful to return.
Rams extend their lead with another Joshua Karty field goal
🏈 Rams 27, Vikings 3 — 7:19 left in the third quarter
Joshua Karty kicked a 44-yard field goal to increase the Rams’ lead.
Karty also kicked a 34-yard field goal in the first quarter.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford has completed 17 of 24 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns.
Rams tight end Tyler Higbee is out of the game because of a chest injury. He had five receptions for 58 yards.
Receiver Puka Nacua has four catches for 43 yards.
Defensive tackle Kobie Turner has two of the Rams’ six sacks.
Rams PA announcer displaced by fire but keeps voicing optimism at relocated playoff game
GLENDALE, Ariz. — In re-creating their home environment for Monday night’s playoff game, the Rams made sure to bring a signature element from SoFi Stadium.
The voice.
If you’ve been to a Rams home game, you likely know Sam Lagana. He’s the in-stadium announcer who fires up the crowd by bellowing, “Whose house?” Thousands respond, “Rams’ house!”
Davis Allen TD catch gives Rams a 24-3 halftime lead
🏈 Rams 24, Vikings 3 — HALFTIME
Matthew Stafford and tight end Davis Allen connected for a 13-yard touchdown with 15 seconds left in the second quarter as the Rams extended their commanding lead.
Stafford has completed 14 of 20 passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns.
The Rams have sacked Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold six times.
Darnold has completed 13 of 16 passes for 113 yards. He has had one pass intercepted and also lost a fumble that Jared Verse returned for a touchdown.
Rams extend their lead on Jared Verse scoop-and-score
🏈 Rams 17, Vikings 3 — 4:35 left in the second quarter
Rookie edge rusher Jared Verse returned a fumble 57 yards for a touchdown to extend the Rams lead.
Cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon blitzed and sacked Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold, forcing him to fumble.
Verse scooped the ball and dashed down the right sideline in front of the Rams bench for his first career touchdown.
Verse, the No. 19 pick in the draft, was the only Rams player selected to the Pro Bowl.
Rams tight end Tyler Higbee is doubtful to return after sustaining a chest injury and defensive lineman Bobby Brown III is questionable to return because of a shoulder injury.
Vikings cuts into Rams’ lead with field goal in second quarter
🏈 Rams 10, Vikings 3 — 14:17 left in the second quarter
Will Reichard kicked a 34-yard field goal to cut the Rams’ lead to seven points.
Quarterback Sam Darnold directed a nine-play, 54-yard drive.
The drive featured a 22-yard pass from Darnold to star receiver Justin Jefferson.
Darnold has completed all seven of his passes for 69 yards, but he has been sacked twice.
Byron Young and Kobie Turner have sacks.
Rams extend their lead on Joshua Karty field goal
🏈 Rams 10, Vikings 0 — 4:01 left in the first quarter
Joshua Karty kicked a 34-yard field goal to extend the Rams’ lead.
Matthew Stafford has completed 11 of 12 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown.
Stafford connected with Demarcus Robinson for 23 yards on the first play of the eight-play, 62-yard drive.
Tight end Tyler Higbee has five catches for 58 yards.
Rams take early lead on Kyren Williams touchdown catch
🏈 Rams 7, Vikings 0 — 10:22 left in the first quarter
Now that was a rarity.
The Rams scored a touchdown on their first possession.
Matthew Stafford tossed a five-yard touchdown pass to running back Kyren Williams to complete a seven-play, 70-yard drive.
Stafford completed a 27-yard pass to receiver Puka Nacua on the first play of a drive that included a 23-yard catch by tight end Tyler Higbee. The Vikings helped keep alive the drive when lineman Jonathan Bullard jumped offside on a fourth-and-one play at the 10-yard line.
A secret to Quentin Lake’s Rams success? Having his All-Pro dad as a role model
Quentin Lake got the news on the field after practice, so there was no other place he wanted to pass it along.
The Rams’ safety trotted into the locker room, picked up his phone and waited until teammates had filed in and left the field empty.
Rams are playoff confident: ‘We see ourselves as a really big Super Bowl contender’
Defensive tackle Kobie Turner said the Rams’ long but joyful regular season primed them for what’s next.
On Monday night, the No. 4-seeded Rams will play the No. 5 Minnesota Vikings in an NFC wild-card game at SoFi Stadium.
“We’ve been waiting on this moment,” Turner said after the Rams’ regular-season finale against the Seattle Seahawks.
Rams vs. Minnesota Vikings inactives for Monday night
Here are the players who will not be suiting up for Monday’s NFC wild-card playoff game between the Rams at Minnesota Vikings at State Farm Stadium:
Rams inactives: QB Stetson Bennett, WR Tyler Johnson, CB Emmanuel Forbes Jr., OLB Brennan Jackson, OL Justin Dedich, OL Joe Noteboom
Vikings inactives: QB Daniel Jones, DL Levi Drake Rodriguez, C Dan Feeney, OT Walter Rouse, LB Pat Jones II
Vikings have history of thwarting Rams in playoffs but L.A. had memorable moments too
They were the days of muddy fields and bundled players, simple gray facemasks and low-tech scoreboards that were little more than a cluster of golden lightbulbs.
It all lives on YouTube, this grainy footage of the NFL’s yesteryear, and two opponents who repeatedly faced each other in the playoffs were the Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings.
The Rams and Vikings will square off yet again Monday night, this time at State Farm Stadium, where the NFC wild-card game was relocated because of the L.A. wildfires.
The game is in Arizona, but Rams fans aren’t sitting this one out
It’ll be interesting to see how many Rams fans make the trek to Glendale, Ariz., to experience Monday’s NFC wild-card showdown against the Minnesota Vikings, but there’s at least one bus load of fans already at State Farm Stadium.
Sean McVay vs. Kevin O’Connell: Familiar foes, unfamiliar territory
Sean McVay and Kevin O’Connell worked closely on the Rams staff for two seasons, molding an offensive scheme that helped the 2021 team make a playoff run that it capped with a victory in Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium.
Now McVay and O’Connell, the third-year coach of the Minnesota Vikings, will face each other in the postseason for the first time when the Rams play host to an NFC wild-card game on Monday night at SoFi Stadium.
Does McVay see a lot of the Rams’ offense in O’Connell’s Vikings?
“What I see is he’s done an excellent job of morphing it to his players,” McVay said during a video conference with reporters. “I think that sometimes can get a little bit overemphasized.
From scary surroundings to strange ones, Rams try to focus on football and feel normal
TEMPE, Ariz. — The sky was clear Saturday when the Rams went through drills in preparation for their NFC wild-card game against the Minnesota Vikings.
The conditions at the Arizona Cardinals’ training facility offered a stark contrast to what the Rams faced a few days earlier, when smoke from wildfires billowed during practice at their facility in Woodland Hills.
Because of safety concerns caused by the wildfires in Southern California, the NFL moved Monday night’s game from SoFi Stadium to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
How the NFL and Rams worked together to relocate playoff game amid an L.A. tragedy
GLENDALE, Ariz. — The NFL will break new ground Monday, a heart-wrenching kind of history the league never wanted to make.
The first-round playoff game between the Rams and Minnesota Vikings, originally planned for SoFi Stadium, has been relocated to Arizona because of the Los Angeles wildfires. It marks the first time a natural disaster has prompted the NFL to move a postseason game to a neutral site.
In an exclusive interview Sunday with the Los Angeles Times, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell detailed the high-level coordination required to make the change — including rival teams going to extreme lengths to help each other — while staying focused on what is far more important than a game.
“The guiding principle for us has always been, don’t interfere and do anything that’s going to impact negatively on public safety,” Goodell said. “Make sure you’re not sapping resources from the responders.”
Rams vs. Minnesota Vikings: How to watch, prediction and betting odds
An NFC wild-card playoff game against the powerful Minnesota Vikings would be a challenge for the Rams even in the best of circumstances.
With a change of venue from SoFi Stadium to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., and potential anxiety regarding the wildfires in Southern California that necessitated the switch, the Rams face an even greater test.
“All the things that we’ve been through this year, this group is built for this,” coach Sean McVay said.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford, receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua and running back Kyren Williams were held out of the season finale against the Seattle Seahawks so they would be rested and ready for the playoffs.
State Farm Stadium given a quick Rams makeover ahead of playoff game
GLENDALE, Ariz. — State Farm Stadium received a pseudo SoFi Stadium makeover.
In an effort to make players and fans to feel at home for Monday night’s NFC wild-card game against the Minnesota Vikings, the home of the Arizona Cardinals has been quickly retrofitted to resemble SoFi Stadium as much as possible.
Of course, there is no giant Oculus videoboard suspended over the field, but the Rams logo is painted at midfield and the end zones are painted blue with yellow letters spelling out RAMS and LOS ANGELES. And the digital ribbon boards are also in Rams colors.
One end of the stadium also features a huge blue banner with THANK YOU FIREFIGHTERS AND FIRST RESPONDERS written in white letters.