NFL
By: George Lopez
The Los Angeles Rams begin their quest for a Superbowl title on Monday night as they host the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card round. The Vikings enter the playoffs after finishing the regular season with an impressive 14-3 record. The Rams finished the regular season 10-7, champions of the NFC West after starting the season 1-4. This will be the 2nd meeting between the two teams as the Rams came away with a 30-20 victory in the regular season.
A concern going into the playoffs is the slow starts that have plagued the Rams this season. In the regular season, the Rams failed to score in the first quarter in 12 of their 17 games. The team can ill-afford to get off to a slow start against the Vikings. Head Coach Sean McVay will look to devise a game plan that will get the Rams offense in rhythm early in the game.
Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores loves to use the blitz with his defenses. Going into this game, the question will be how much Flores will use the blitz. Quarterback Matthew Stafford has done well against the blitz this season, with a 103-quarterback rating. If the Vikings do blitz, look for Stafford to use quick passes to his receivers to beat the blitz.
Down the stretch of the regular season, the Rams began to use a more balanced offensive attack. Look for that to continue against the Vikings. Kyren Williams leads the Rams’ running attack and figures to have a big part in the Rams’ offensive attack. The Rams will look to slow the game down and keep the Vikings offense off the field as much as possible. Look for Williams to have at minimum, 25 carries in the game. Though the Vikings have one of the top defenses against the run, look for the Rams to stick to the running game. The Rams did lose primary RB Blake Corum, who fractured his forearm in the season finale against Seattle. Ronnie Rivers will be the primary backup to Kyren Williams moving forward in the playoffs.
The Rams did get some good news as starting RT Rob Havenstein will start against the Vikings. The Rams will have all 5 starting offensive linemen in this game. The Ram also announced that DB John Johnson III, out since week 2, has been activated from the IR and will play against the Vikings. Don’t look for Johnson to start in the secondary, though he will see plenty of playing time in the Rams nickel coverage.
Towards the end of the season, the Rams did not rely solely on the arm of Stafford to get the offense moving. The Rams will need to keep Stafford around 30 pass attempts in this game. If they do that, the offense will stay balanced, which is a key against the Vikings defense. In his last 3 games, WR Cooper Kupp has not played a big role in the Rams passing attack in terms of the number of receptions. Kupp has still been an integral part of the offense with the downfield blocking he provides in the running game as well as drawing the attention of the opposing teams secondary. Look for Kupp and WR Puka Nacua to have big roles in the Rams’ passing attack. The Rams will look to get WR Demarcus Robinson, TuTu Atwell, Jordan Whittington, and TE Tyler Higbee involved in the passing game.
Vikings quarterback, Sam Darnold, had the best season of his career, passing for 4319 yards with 35 touchdowns. The Vikings receiving group is led by Justin Jefferson. On the season, Jefferson led the team with 103 receptions and 10 touchdowns. Jefferson will be a point of focus for Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula. The Rams secondary cannot put their entire focus on Jefferson, as the Vikings have Jordan Addison and Jalen Nailor who are capable of putting big numbers in the Vikings’ passing attack. TE T.J Hockenson figures to have a significant role in the Vikings’ passing game. With the number of targets available to Darnold, look for the Rams to use 5 or 6 defensive backs for most of the game.
The Vikings will also look to use their running game with Aaron Jones expected to get most of the carries. Jones led the team with 1138 rushing yards this season. Former Rams RB Cam Akers is the Vikings’ primary backup RB and should be expected to see considerable playing time.
The Vikings last regular season game against the Detroit Lions determined who would win the NFC North and be the top seed in the NFC playoffs. The game was basically a playoff game and was Darnold’s first game in his career in that type of atmosphere. Darnold had his worst game of the season, completing 18-41 passes for 166 yards. Darnold did not have the accuracy that he has displayed the entire season and will look to bounce back in his first playoff game.
The Rams defense, one of the youngest in the NFL, has improved as the season has progressed. Edge rushers Jared Verse and Byron Young will look to bring pressure from the outside while maintaining containment that will prevent Darnold from escaping to the outside. The interior defensive line of Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske, and Bobby Brown will look to collapse the pocket from the inside and get Darnold off his spot. The Rams defensive line will also look to get off their blocks and close up the inside running lanes to contain the Vikings running game. The edge defenders will look to keep the Vikings running backs from getting outside and force them back to the inside.
The Rams and Vikings enter the playoffs as two of the hottest teams in the NFL. For fans of a certain age, this matchup will bring up memories of the Rams and Vikings meeting in the playoffs numerous times in the 1970s. Look for the Rams to utilize their running game, which will open up their vaunted play-action passing attack to help lead the Rams past the Vikings in what should be an exciting game.
