- WHERE: State Farm Stadium (Glendale, Ariz.)
- WHEN: 8 p.m. ET | ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes, NFL+
Wild Card Weekend finishes Monday with a matchup between familiar foes.
Back in Week 8, the Los Angeles Rams, 2-4 at the time, proved unkind hosts to the Vikings, then 5-1, upsetting Minnesota to help reboot their season and playoff aspirations.
That reboot, as most are, was buoyed by the return of stars such as Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp, who had missed five and four weeks, respectively, due to injury. Nacua eclipsed 106 yards receiving in the contest, while Kupp collected 51 but also found the end zone.
Over the Rams’ next nine games, a much healthier stretch than their previous six, they dropped only two more results. By Week 17, they clinched the NFC West.
The Vikings, meanwhile, had provided doubters ammo with two straight losses, only to rattle off nine consecutive victories before falling again in the final game of the regular season, a loss to the Detroit Lions that blocked them from the No. 1 seed and a bye and instead made them a 14-win fifth seed.
Those paths converge again in the first round of the playoffs, although this time the teams are set to play at the Arizona Cardinals’ State Farm Stadium due to multiple wildfires in the Los Angeles area.
Both foes have exhibited multiple ways of winning, setting up a heavyweight rematch with a trip to the NFC Divisional Round on the line.
Who will come out on top -- Rams coach Sean McVay or his protégé, Kevin O’Connell, who served as his offensive coordinator in L.A. for two years before signing on to helm the Vikings in 2022?
Here are three things to watch for when the Vikings play the Rams in Monday's wild-card game:
1) Sam Darnold seeks bounce-back performance. Darnold saved his worst game of the 2024 season for last. Luckily for him, he played so lights out before then that he has a chance to make up for it in the playoffs. With a bye and home-field advantage on the line in Week 18, the Vikings were instead sunk by a Darnold dud against Detroit. He threw for his lowest completion percentage (43.9) and passing yards (166) of the campaign versus the Lions while failing to throw a touchdown. He was routinely late or high on throws, something of a rarity for him thus far during his Vikings tenure. Having gone from a potential bust at No. 3 overall in the 2018 draft to Pro Bowler under Kevin O’Connell, Darnold had an otherwise extraordinary first year with the team. He’s thrown for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns, both fifth-most in the league, and his 102.5 passer rating ranks sixth. For now, there's currently little reason to suspect Week 18 was anything more than a blip. Plus, Darnold was excellent in his last meeting with the Rams and posted a 128.8 passer rating, a career high before he bested it again later this season. His response to failure still bears watching, though. Running back Aaron Jones won’t beat the Rams alone on the ground, and the offense functions best when wide receiver Justin Jefferson can be unleashed. The Vikings need Darnold if they’re to make a deep run. If he ultimately becomes the reason they don’t, the offseason storyline surrounding his future role for them or another squad could look vastly different than it did a couple weeks ago.
2) Where have you gone, Rams offense? If not for Los Angeles’ late-season defensive surge, the Rams might’ve been Wild Card Weekend spectators facing some uncomfortable questions. Following a 44-42 Week 14 victory over the Buffalo Bills that seemingly announced L.A. as one of the most explosive teams in the league, Sean McVay’s offense promptly fell off the face of the earth. Over their next three games, all wins to cap off a five-game winning streak that clinched the division, the Rams averaged 14.6 points. Their high in passing was 189 yards. Kyren Williams remained a grind-it-out touchdown machine in the backfield, but Matthew Stafford struggled to find production targeting anyone outside Puka Nacua. He threw for 459 yards with one touchdown, one interception and a 60.3 completion percentage. Cooper Kupp? He saw three targets in each contest after never falling below six this season, turning low usage into low results with four catches for 53 yards. McVay, however, was evidently as unfazed by the lull as he was by seeding. He proved that by resting starters in the regular-season finale rather than trying to work out the wrinkles or going all-in for the conference's No. 3 spot. Perhaps rest will be all the unit ultimately needed. Los Angeles must bank on that, especially considering Minnesota (28th against the pass but second against the run) is mostly only vulnerable where the Rams have recently cratered.
3) Dominant D versus young, rising one. Brian Flores’ Minnesota defense means business. Outside of being a bit of a pass funnel, something of a concern if Stafford and Co. click into playoff mode, the Vikings are terrifying everywhere. They’re stout up front and brutal against the running game thanks to Harrison Phillips and Jonathan Bullard. Andrew Van Ginkel and Jonathan Greenard are one of only two ¹ú²úÍâÁ÷Íøduos this season with 11-plus sacks, helping Minnesota tie for fourth in the category. There hasn’t been a game in which the Vikings, tied for first in the league with 33 turnovers forced, haven’t taken the ball away. In fact, they’ve managed multiple takeaways in 11 different contests. Minnesota has been dominant since Day 1, but the Rams defense is peaking and primed to make a statement of its own. When last these teams met, L.A.’s youth movement was more used to getting moved. From Weeks 1-14, the Rams allowed 25.5 points per game (24th in the NFL), and in Week 8 they were carved up by Sam Darnold. But during the past month of action, they’ve allowed 13.5 points per game, second-best during that span. The turnaround has been fueled largely by first- and second-year players. The team’s top-four sack-getters -- Braden Fiske (8.5), Kobie Turner (8.0), Byron Young (7.5) and Jared Verse (4.5) -- were all drafted in the past two years. Rookie safeties Kamren Kinchens and Jaylen McCollough share the team lead in interceptions with four. Among ¹ú²úÍâÁ÷Íørookies, the Rams defense ranks first or tied for first with 312 tackles, 13.5 sacks, 30 QB hits, five forced fumbles and eight picks. The group is turning the corner at exactly the right time. The all-important question is if it will continue under the bright playoff lights.
