No one envies the Eagles after what the NFL saw Monday night. They’re the team that gets to play the Rams, who thoroughly dominated the Vikings in every phase of a 27-9 wild-card victory at State Farm Stadium to advance in the NFC playoffs.
Los Angeles (11-7) matched a single-game NFL postseason record with nine sacks, parlaying one into Jared Verse’s 57-yard touchdown return. Matthew Stafford also threw two touchdown passes to provide devastated Southern California residents a small reason to smile. In starts Dec. 1 and later since the Rams acquired him in a trade with the Lions prior to the 2021 season, Stafford is now 18-3, including postseason. No question, this season’s coaching performance will go down as Sean McVay’s most impressive.
Kyle Brandt went a step farther on Good Morning Football. After seeing the Rams beat AFC juggernaut Buffalo in Week 14, Brandt began believing in the Rams as his “holy crap Super Bowl team.” He expounded on Tuesday morning.
“I said this four weeks ago,” Brandt said. “I feel it even more strongly now because if I were to list four things, four things that I want in a Super Bowl team, I saw all four of them last night. Tell me if this sounds like the Rams.
“No. 1, they have a varsity quarterback. He’s been there. Number 2, a ‘made guy’ head coach, not some up-and-comer, a ‘made guy.’ Three, we rush the quarterback. Four, we run the ball. Is there anything that you see missing here for the Rams? Because I see some teams out there, maybe even the team the Rams are playing next, that has two of these, maybe three of these; definitely not all four. I love this Rams team. Do not think for a second you’ll be shocked in a couple of weeks from now like, ‘Holy crap, the Rams are going to the Super Bowl.’ Not the title game, the Super Bowl.”
If they don’t get there, the Rams will certainly remember the past week – starting with the outbreak of devastating wildfires that caused the NFL to make the unprecedented decision to move a home playoff game. In an uplifting coordination of resources and an inspiring partnership with the division-rival Cardinals organization, the Rams accomplished so much more than a dominating victory over the Vikings.
“I think with the exception of the Super Bowl,” said Peter Schrager on Tuesday’s GMFB, “this might have been the most dramatic Rams win from an organizational standpoint that they’ve had since they moved back to LA.
“And that’s not just the players. It’s everyone from support staff to the people on the business side to the people who make the gameday operations work. And they had to be at their very best. And that’s what McVay always says, and I talk to him often … ‘Be your very best when your best is mattered most.’”
The Rams’ best on Monday came during a nine-minute stretch of the second quarter that stunned the Vikings (14-4). It started when Sam Darnold underthrew Jordan Addison and was picked off by Cobie Durant. On Minnesota’s next possession, Ahkello Witherspoon stripped Darnold and Verse took the loose ball to the house to give the Rams a 17-3 lead with 4:48 left in the first half.
Then, the Rams’ defense squeezed the vice, sacking Darnold two more times on the Vikings’ ensuing series, including Kobie Turner’s fourth-down sack that set up Stafford’s touchdown pass to Davis Allen. Almost as a sign of submission, Darnold then kneeled to run out the clock and jogged into the locker room down, 24-3. Minnesota’s 82 yards lost on sacks shattered the single-game NFL postseason record.
It was a stunning downfall for Darnold, considered one of the league’s best stories in 2024. After leading Minnesota to 14 wins in his first year with the Vikings, Darnold collapsed at the end. He missed five touchdown passes in a season-finale loss at Detroit, then seemed off target all night in the loss to the Rams. Even his third-quarter touchdown pass to T.J. Hockenson – which snapped a string of 21 straight Vikings drives without finding the end zone – was well behind his tight end.
The Vikings were outscored 58-18 over their final two games. They finished 0-4 combined against the top-seeded Lions and upstart Rams, but went 14-0 against the rest of the league. Now, they need to decide whether to keep both Sam Darnold and first-round selection J.J. McCarthy, who figures to be ready for training camp following a knee injury that cost him his rookie year.
Los Angeles, meanwhile, has won six of its last seven, its only loss a Week 18 blemish in which the Rams rested starters while preparing for the playoffs. They get the early divisional-round game at Philadelphia (15-3) on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, NBC).
For more information on the Rams and Vikings, visit the L.A. Rams and Minnesota team pages at ProFootballPost.com.
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