Many Vikings fans were in attendance to witness the wild card round game against the LA Rams, which had been moved to the Arizona Cardinals stadium. However, they did not witness the Vikings put up much of a fight in a game that was never close.
LA Rams’ Offense Started Hot Right Out Of the Gate
The Vikings defense didn’t put up much of a fight on the Rams’ first offensive drive. It ended with a TD pass from Matthew Stafford to Kyren Williams. The score was 7-0 as the Rams led early. The Vikings’ offensive line struggled to protect Sam Darnold or make lanes for Aaron Jones on the first couple of plays. The drive stalled out after a run for a loss and a sack of Darnold (which became a recurring theme of the night). Ryan Wright had a booming punt and both teams got a bit chippy after the Vikings tackled the punt returner.
Vikings’ First Almost Forced Turnover Is Recovered By The Rams
The Vikings almost forced a fumble on the following drive but Puka Nacua recovered the ball that was coughed up by a hard hit on Williams. However, the Minnesota defense stood tall and forced the Rams to take a field goal attempt. The score was 10-0 as the Rams continued to lead. The Vikings’ offense continued to struggle to get something going until Darnold hit a big completion to Jordan Addison for a first down.
Darnold then had a completion to Ham for a good chunk of yards before a 22-yard completion to a wide-open Justin Jefferson. Darnold got sacked on the following play which should have been a screen pass to Jefferson. The drive stalled out again after another sack of Darnold. The Vikings settled for a short field goal. The score was 10-3 as the Rams still held onto the lead.
Minnesota’s Defense Gets On the Board Until a Review
Blake Cashman recovered a fumble for a touchdown but the call was reversed and called an incomplete pass that was intended for Nacua. The Vikings still got the stop and forced the Rams to punt. The Minnesota offense got a big run by Jones before Darnold got sacked for a 12-yard loss. Darnold missed on a 3rd-and-15 throw that was intended for Jefferson (another unfortunate recurring theme for the Vikings’ offense).
There was a roughing of the kicker penalty on the punt, and a Rams’ penalty extended the drive for the Vikings. The Vikings attempted another screen pass to Jefferson but Witherspoon sniffed it out and tackled Jefferson for a short gain. Darnold made a terrible throw that was intended for Addison but ended up in the hands of the Rams’ Cobie Durant.
Vikings’ Defense Stands Tall
The first official turnover of the game and the Rams had the ball at their 42-yard line. The Rams’ offensive drive stalled out after an offensive holding penalty set them back on first down. The Vikings’ defense made one of their few stands of the night and forced the Rams to punt.
Cam Akers, A Bright Spot Among the Darkness
Cam Akers got things going on the ground before Darnold completed a big pass to T.J. Hockenson for 16 yards. Akers took advantage of some great blocks on the edge to gain 26 yards before heading out of bounds. There was a completion to Josh Oliver that they ruled a fumble on the field, but the ruling was reversed and Oliver was ruled as being down by contact before the fumble.
The Rams’ Quentin Lake made a big stop at the line of scrimmage on a run attempt by Akers. On the following play, Darnold was sacked and fumbled the ball. This allowed Jared Verse to pick up the ball and run it back into the end zone for a defensive touchdown. The Rams increased their lead to 17-3 with just under six minutes left in the second quarter.
The Vikings’ Offense Continued To Sputter
The offensive line of the Vikings continued to function as turnstiles and allowed Darnold to be sacked two times on the following drive. The second sack was on a fourth down attempt which then caused a turnover on downs with the Rams regaining possession. It only took the Rams’ offense five plays to go the 39 yards down the field to get their next TD. That drive was capped off by a passing TD from Stafford to Davis Allen.
The Rams were successful with their extra point kick and extended their lead to 24-3 with 15 seconds left in the second quarter. The Vikings chose to kneel the ball and go into the locker rooms at halftime down by 21 points.
Darnold Starts To Shake the Rust Off Until He Doesn’t
Darnold got a nice completion to Addison to get a first down and started the second half better than the first half. After that completion, however, he missed a wide-open Nailor that could have taken it all the way if he hit him in stride. The Vikings were forced to punt on their first offensive drive of the second half as Darnold continued to fold under the pressure of his first playoff game.
Minnesota’s Defense Gets a Stop, Kind Of
The Vikings’ defense started to get some pressure on Stafford but he continued making passes to his receivers. Stafford got his first completion to Cooper Kupp with 10 minutes left in the third, and Kupp was the eighth receiver he completed a pass to. The Vikings’ Ivan Pace Jr. made a big tackle in the backfield and caused a fumble. However, the play went under review due to a challenge from Head Coach O’Connell and they ruled there was no fumble on the play as the Rams’ player was down by contact. The Rams settled for a field goal and they extended their lead to 27-3.
Darnold Starts Connecting With Nailor
Darnold got a big completion to Nailor after missing on another throw to Jefferson the play before. The Vikings have had 21 drives in a row without a TD, their longest streak under O’Connell. Darnold got another completion to Nailor and followed that up with a 26-yard passing TD to Hockenson. The Rams lead shrunk to 27-9, as the Vikings’ two-point attempt was unsuccessful. The Vikings came up with a big defensive stop to force the Rams to punt, but the Rams pinned them deep at their 4-yard line.
The Vikings Take 5 Minutes Off the Clock To…Punt
Minnesota’s offense was starting to get a little bit of rhythm with two minutes left in the third quarter. Darnold got a short pass completed to Addison and he also picked up some yardage on the ground with a 17-yard scramble. There was an unnecessary roughness penalty called on the Rams’ defender as he made contact with Darnold’s head after he had initiated his slide.
The Vikings got the ball near midfield after the penalty and Darnold was able to get another completion to Hockenson to extend the drive. Darnold missed on a deep pass that was intended for Nailor before he got sacked on the following play. The sack took the Vikings out of field goal range and they chose to punt. The punt bounced out the back of the endzone and the Rams started at their 20-yard line.
Rams’ Offensive Drive Was Full Of Penalties
The Rams’ next offensive drive only lasted six plays but they managed to rack up a ton of penalty yardage. The first penalty was an offensive holding call on Whittington, and the second was another offensive holding penalty but this time it was committed by Davis Allen. They followed up the next play with a false start penalty by Parkinson. This ultimately ended up getting them into a 1st-and-31 yards-to-go situation. They ran it several times with Williams before choosing to punt, which was another touchback.
Way Too Little, Way Too Late
The Vikings finally started getting things going on their second-to-last offensive drive of the game. However, there was no sense of urgency and it seemed as if they had given up at the beginning of the drive. Akers picked up a first down until the Rams challenged the spot and they won the challenge. Darnold was able to sneak the ball across the line to gain another first down. Darnold completed a screen pass to Aaron Jones but they ended up losing yardage on the play.
Darnold completed another pass, this one to Johnny Mundt for 22 yards. Then Darnold got sacked again, missed on throws intended for Addison and Jefferson, and turned the ball over on downs. The Vikings’ defense appeared to have a little something left in the tank as they forced the Rams into a 3-and-out. The Vikings then had over two minutes left in the game and the ball in their possession.
Darnold was able to connect on a couple of shorter throws to Sherfield and Mundt before getting sacked another time. The offensive drive sputtered out after that and they turned the ball over on downs. All the Rams had to do on their final offensive drive was kneel the ball two times to run out the remainder of the game clock.
It was another disappointing performance by a Vikings team that had done very well for most of the regular season but collapsed under pressure against the Detroit Lions in Week 18 and the LA Rams in the wild-card round of the playoffs. Now the Vikings can move into reflection mode and see what they did well this season and where they need improvement if they want to be taken seriously as a Super Bowl Contender.
