5 instant reactions from Rams wild Wild Card Round performance vs. Vikings

Did the LA Rams (11-7) deliver to your expectations? It's difficult to argue otherwise, as the Rams faced a Minnesota Vikings (14-4) that had ended the 2025 regular season with a 33-9 loss to the top-seeded Detroit Lions (15-2). Before the Wild Card Round of the 2025 NFL Playoffs, the only two teams to defeat the Minnesota Vikings this season were the Detroit Lions (2X) and the Los Angeles Rams.

By the end of the game, the Rams had defeated the Vikings twice this season as well.

There was a great deal of debate over the fact that the LA Rams entered the 2025 NFL Playoffs with one of the worst point differentials of seeded teams. Despite a record of 10 wins and seven losses, the team was the only team in the NFL with a winning record but a negative point differential. The Rams had a point differential of -19 at the conclusion of the regular season.

Cause for concern? Not exactly. You see, the Rams opportunistic defense buoyed a vital net turnover tally in the Rams favor, ending the season with a (+6) net turnover mark that is good enough to be tied for the 10th best team in the NFL

But that is only the tip of the iceberg. The Rams defense faced a Minnesota Vikings offense that averaged 25.4 points per game. The Rams offense only averaged 21.4 points per game, and even that low scoring average was buoyed by a defense that continued to be quite adept at scoring points.

(5) Rams defense exceeded lofty expectations

The LA Rams defense held the Minnesota Vikings to just 20 points in Week 8. To be perfectly honest, I was hopeful that the team could score 21+ points, and have the defense hold the Vikings to just 20 points once again. Well, the Rams defense overshot that mark.

By a large margin.

I hesitate to raise my expectations, as that is the quickest way to be disappointed. After winning three games and five games in a row, the team has started winning once more. This time, the success is powered by the defense. The Rams starting defense has allowed just 33 points in the past four games, when starters have played.

Are the Rams onto something?

(4) Veteran QB Matthew Stafford opened with a hot hand

LA Rams veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford has completed 17 seasons in the NFL, and is about to turn 37 years old. And yet, the wiley old gunslinger proved that he still has it. Despite completing 19 of 27 passes for 209 yards, he threw two touchdowns and no interceptions while leading the Rams to an early lead and then never looking back.

At halftime, the Rams had jumped out to a 24-3 lead. The team coasted with a far more conservative offense in the second half, culminating in a layup victory.

Stafford entered the game with the eye of the tiger and never softened his countenance throughout the game. While the game placed immeasurable pressure on Stafford, he proved to be more than a match for the broadest stage and the brightest lights in the NFL. While not particularly productive, Stafford maintained the calm, cool, and collected demeanor of a brain surgeon in the operating room.

This was not Stafford's best game. But he was very effective in leading his team to an emphatic victory.

(3) Heroics showed up all over the Rams roster

No Rams receiver put up more than 58 receiving yards. That honor belonged to veteran tight end Tyler Higbee, who left early in the game with a bruised chest. Not Rams rusher ran for more than 76 yards. That achievement belonged to featured running back Kyren Williams, who needed 16 carries to rush for that total. No player scored more than one touchdown in the game. But three players entered the end zone for the Rams.

The highest scorer for the team was rookie kicker Joshua Karty, who kicked two field goals and three extra points to lead the Rams with nine points.

But this was a team effort. The defense recorded 10 tackles for a loss, tied an NFL record with nine quarterback sacks, recorded four pass deflections, one interception, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery for a touchdown. Even Rams punter Ethan Evans had an outstanding game, averaging 50.2 yards per punt with one touchback and three punts inside the Vikings 20-yard line.

I could go on and on, but after a certain point, it begins to sound disingenuous. So let's stick a pin in this one, and continue on.

(2) Rams defense may have tarnished Darnold's reputation beyond repair

It's clear that the Minnesota Vikings were in the playoff hunt all season long thanks to the incredible performance of veteran QB Sam Darnold. But Darnold was a journeyman depth quarterback who suddenly found new life in the Vikings offense under HC Kevin O'Connell. But as is often the case, it's not how you start off the season that fans remember, but rather how you finish it.

And Darnold struggled over the past two games of his 2024 NFL season:

I pointed out how a bad game against the Rams could lead to an entirely new narrative about Sam Darnold as the Minnesota Vikings now pivot to the 2025 NFL season. Now the question over the future of Sam Darnold is no longer how much the Vikings need to offer him to extend him, but rather if the team will make any effort to do so.

The Vikings drafted rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy in the 2024 NFL draft with the intention of handing over the keys to him at some point in time. Now, that moment appears to be sooner rather than later.

Wild Card Round FINAL SCORE

Minnesota Vikings 9
Los Angeles Rams 27

The Rams have earned the right to advance to the Divisional Round of the 2025 NFL Playoffs, where they will travel to face the second-seeded Philadelphia Eagles.

(1) How quickly can Rams injured recover for the Divisional Round?

Thoughout the course of the game, the Rams' roster was negatively impacted by injuries. Early in the game, tight end Tyler Higbee suffered a bruised chest. Soon afterward, the secondary lost the services of defensive back Ahkello Witherspoon, who suffered a thigh contusion. Since the Rams played this game on Monday Night Football, the time to rest, recover, and rehab this week is limited.

And the team must now travel to the East Coast to face the Philadelphia Eagles in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Unlike the Minnesota Vikings, the Philadelphia Eagles had little problem dismantling the Rams in Week12 by the score of 33-20. It was the last loss suffered by the starters in the 2024 regular season. And in that game, the team did not play RT Rob Havenstein of TE Tyler Higbee, and the defense was still trying to find cohesion.

The Rams allowed running back Saquon Barkley to put up over 300 yards of offense in that game. He rushed 26 times for 255 yards and two touchdowns, as well as hauling in four of four passes for an additional 47 yards. So it stands to reason that the Rams defense will make it a point to stop Saquon Barkley.

Matthew Stafford was sacked five times in that game, while the Rams pass rush only managed to sack Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts once. The Eagles (14-3) defeated the Green Bay Packers (11-6) by a score of 22-10 in the Wild Card Round of the 2025 NFL Playoffs.

As always, thanks for reading.

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