Despite injury to Tyler Higbee, Rams lean heavily on TEs to overpower Vikings

The LA Rams have been a bit predictable in their offense this season. Of the 541 passes thrown through the regular season, 83 targeted four tight ends all season long. That works out to just 15.3 percent of the targets this season, which is not very much considering the team has carried up to four tight ends on the active roster.

If you were the Minnesota Viking defensive coordinator, you would have been entirely okay to ignore the tight ends in terms of prioritizing defensive coverages and assignments. The Rams offense seemed to overlook tight ends in the playbook all season, so why shouldn't the Vikings defense? Well, things can and often do change in the NFL.

In the Wild Card Round of the 2025 NFL Playoffs, the offense did an about face. Of 27 passes thrown in the game through three quarters of play, veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford targeted tight ends on 11 plays. He completed nine of those passes for 97 yards and one touchdown. That is a complete reversal of how the team had steered the offense up to this point.

And if not for the injury to starting tight end Tyler Higbee, the offense may had had an outstanding outing for Higbee on a night in which he was catching everything thrown his way. But Higbee's night ended early in the game.

That did not result in a change of strategy. The Rams continued to target tight ends as the second half slowed to a defensive struggle.

The Rams offense intentionally geared down in the second half. The primary goal for the game was to score points and get an early lead. But as the game waxed, the offense pivoted to a ball control strategy that allowed the defense to get a breather, and to run out the clock. Even as the Vikings offense took over with 7:25 to go in the fourth quarter, the time of possession favored the visiting team with a small margin, 26:40 to 25:55.

The Rams have no problem allowing the Vikings to run the football with 7:00 minutes remaining in the game and trailing by 18 points. The Rams have to be satisfied with their performance in their first appearance in the NFL Playoffs.

If the LA Rams hold on for the victory, they will travel to face the Philadelphia Eagles in the Divisional Round of the 2025 NFL Playoffs. The Rams have shown up in dominating fashion. We will have a lot to discuss in our post-game analysis, plus a lot to project as the Rams ready for a rematch against the Eagles.

As always, thanks for reading.

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