Matthew Stafford threw two first-half touchdown passes and the Los Angeles Rams’ defense had nine sacks to tie the NFL playoff record in a 27-9 wild-card-round victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Monday in a game relocated to Glendale, Ariz.
The Rams’ home game originally was scheduled for Inglewood, Calif., before the venue was changed for public safety purposes because of deadly wildfires in the Los Angeles area over the past week.
“With everything that has gone on with our community and everything these guys have gone through, I thought they represented the city the right way,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “You talk about sports offering a platform for people to come together and offer a little bit of temporary relief, and I thought the way our team competed tonight is what it looked like to stay connected, to stay together.”
Linebacker Jared Verse returned a fumble 57 yards for a touchdown and Kobie Turner had two sacks as the Rams came out on top in a playoff game for the first time since winning Super Bowl LVI at the end of the 2021 season.
Stafford completed 19 of 27 passes for 209 yards and Kyren Williams and Davis Allen each caught a touchdown toss as Los Angeles defeated Minnesota for the second time this season. Williams ran for 76 yards on 16 carries.
“The offense was able to go out there and get an early lead and our defense went crazy, was attacking the quarterback, making big plays, scoring on defense and doing a great job getting us the ball back,” Stafford said.
The fourth-seeded Rams will be on the road to face the second-seeded Philadelphia Eagles in an NFC divisional-round game on Sunday.
Sam Darnold finished 25-of-40 passing for 245 yards with one touchdown and one interception for the fifth-seeded Vikings, who were the first wild-card team to win 14 games in the regular season. T.J. Hockenson caught five passes for 64 yards and a score for Minnesota, while Justin Jefferson had five receptions for 58 yards.
“Way too many negatives on offense, missed opportunities and things we can do better,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said. “That’s what we’re going to go back and do. But it’s still very fresh for our team. … It hurts, but we have to use this as fuel moving forward but at the same time understand the special group we have and make sure we’re aware of how we move forward to build upon this team into next year.”
The Rams started quickly, taking the opening drive of the game 70 yards in seven plays, with Williams scoring on a 5-yard pass from Stafford. After a three-and-out by Minnesota, Los Angeles added a 34-yard field goal from Joshua Karty on its second possession for a 10-0 lead.
The Vikings answered with a 34-yard field goal from Will Reichard to pull within 10-3 early in the second quarter.
Verse’s fumble return for a score came after a sack and forced fumble from Ahkello Witherspoon to give the Rams a 17-3 lead with 4:35 remaining in the first half.
After the Vikings turned the ball over on downs with 1:27 remaining in the first half on a sack from Turner, the Rams took a 24-3 lead with 15 seconds left in the half on a 13-yard TD connection from Stafford to Allen.
The Vikings finally found the end zone with 5:05 remaining in the third quarter on a 26-yard TD pass from Darnold to Hockenson to pull within 27-9. The two-point conversion attempt failed.
Looking ahead to the preparation for the Rams’ game at Philadelphia, Stafford said, “I’m assuming we’re going to be able to practice back at home, but I don’t really know that. It feels great after a week that has tested a lot of people in a lot of different ways to be able to come out and play a complete game.”
–Field Level Media
