🏈 LA Rams vs. Minnesota Vikings Preview and Prediction - 1/13/25 👀
Tragedy sets up a rare neutral site playoff game
Due to very unfortunate circumstances, the LA Rams head East to a familiar, unfamiliar location to “host” the winningest Wild Card road playoff team in NFL history. The Vikings, under the direction of a resurrected Sam Darnold, will be looking for revenge against the only non-Lions team to beat them in the regular season.
The Vikings are…checks notes…14-3?! When the season outlook was taking shape, it was unclear if the Vikings were starting a full rebuild, retool, whatever you like to call it, under their rookie QB J.J. McCarthy. After a preseason, season-ending injury to the young signal caller, many thought (including the Sports Owl) the Vikings would finish near the bottom of the NFC North, and even the bottom of the NFL. Enter Sam Darnold. Yes, that Sam Darnold. The former top draft pick turned journeyman, has journeyed his way to borderline franchise QB status under Kevin O’Connell with the Vikings, passing for over 4,300 yards and 35 passing TDs, a remarkable feat. A defense that was picked by many to be bottom tier in the NFL has also enjoyed a remarkable run this season, ranking 5th in points allowed per game under the direction of rumored head coaching candidate Brian Flores, who started the year defending stray shots in the media from his former Dolphins QB. The Vikings three losses are worth noting here, as two of them came to their NFC North foes in Detroit, while the only other loss came to their current playoff opponent, the Rams, back in October. Their 14-3 record also makes them winningest road Wild Card team in NFL history.
After starting out the season 1-4, there were whispers of retirement, trading Cooper Kupp, and tanking for a better draft pick, but the Rams were having none of that, and have since rallied to win 5 out of their last 6 games, locking up the NFC West for the fourth time during the illustrious young career of Sean McVay. During this hot stretch, the Rams have relied on a balanced attack with Kyren Williams rushing for nearly 1,300 yeards this season, and their two star wideouts, Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp giving Matthew Stafford all the options he needs to power an offense. This was evident in the Rams miraculous 44-42 victory over the Bills a month ago, and the Rams defense then proceeded to allow less than 10 points to the Jets, 49ers, and Cardinals afterwards. Their only loss during this stretch was in the season finale against the Seahawks in a game where the Rams had already locked up their home playoff game. Now the boys from LA (one set of them, at least) welcome their former offensive coordinator that led their attack in their Super Bowl Winning season 5 years ago. Outside of football, many of the Rams will be playing with away from home and with heavy hearts for their community tonight, for obvious reasons.
Both of these teams have done an excellent job of managing nagging injuries down the stretch, and that leaves us with a nearly empty list of inactives for this one. The only potential absence that we need to keep an eye on is the status of RB Cam Akers, who came down with an illness yesterday. However, with a healthy Kyren Williams, a Cam Akers absence could also be relatively meaningless.
The dome in Glendale, Arizona will provide a weather-free game. We can only imagine, however, what the LA players must be feeling as a result of this temporary relocation.
The Owl predicts:
Los Angeles 24 Minnesota 17
Emotions could play more of a role in this one than any other Wild Card game this weekend, as the Rams deal with an unprecedented situation at home. On top of that, we have one head coach going against his old boss, and bulletin board material given to the Rams in the form of Dan Campbell’s dismissal of the Rams in the Vikings-Lions postgame handshake last week. We never want to rely too much on narrative, but this is a rare case where we are placing our trust in Sean McVay’s ability to harness that emotion and combine it with the tactical know-how to quash the revival of Sam Darnold under the direction of his former offensive coordinator. We expect the Rams to learn some things from the Lion’s dismantling of the Vikings last week and give O’Connell’s boys an early exit to a dream season.
Consensus odds currently:
Min -2.5 O/U 47.5