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The Rams faced real adversity throughout the first week of the postseason, as fires raging around Los Angeles forced Monday night’s game to be moved to Arizona.
But the club managed to rally around each other, coming away with a 27-9 win to advance to the divisional round.
Los Angeles’ defense pressured Darnold relentlessly, especially during the first half in which the club had six sacks before finishing the contest with nine — tying the single-game postseason record. None was more significant than Ahkello Witherspoon’s strip-sack midway through the second quarter, as rookie Jared Verse picked up the loose ball and returned it 57 yards for a touchdown.
According to ESPN, the Rams became the first team since the 1970 merger to record at least eight sacks and have a defensive touchdown in a playoff game.
It was one of three TDs in the first half for Los Angeles, as Matthew Stafford also threw for two scores — a 5-yard pass to Kyren Williams and a 13-yard pass to Davis Allen late in the second quarter.
Los Angeles extended its lead to 27-3 with a 44-yard field goal early in the third quarter before Minnesota finally got into the end zone on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Sam Darnold to TJ Hockenson.
Down by 24 at the time of the touchdown, the Vikings elected to go for two, but Justin Jefferson was tackled on the play well before getting to the goal line.
Darnold was far from Minnesota’s only problem on Monday night, but he played poorly again in a must-try situation. After missing punts and taking some unnecessary sacks, he finished the contest 25 of 40 for 245 yards with a touchdown, an interception and a lost fumble.
Stafford was handling most of the contest, as three of the Rams’ first eight plays went at least 20 yards to set up the touchdown and field goal. He finished the game 19 of 27 for 209 yards with two TDs.
With the win, the Rams will move on to play the Eagles next Sunday at 3 PM ET on NBC.
