Rams Dominate Vikings 27-9 in Wild-Card Playoff Shifted to Arizona

Glendale: The Rams really brought their A-game on Monday night. Matthew Stafford threw two touchdown passes, and they completely overwhelmed the Vikings, winning 27-9. It was a wild-card playoff game that had to be moved to Arizona because of those nasty wildfires back in LA.

Rookie Jared Verse made a splash by returning a fumble for a 57-yard touchdown. The Rams, who are now 11-7, looked right at home in State Farm Stadium. They kicked things off with a touchdown on their first drive and were up 10-0 by the end of the first quarter.

The game was shifted nearly 400 miles from Inglewood, California, due to the ongoing wildfires. Next up, the Rams will head to the East Coast to face the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

Verse’s touchdown in the second quarter pushed the Rams to a 17-3 lead. Darnold, the Vikings’ quarterback, was under pressure when he lost the ball, and Verse scooped it up and ran it in, flipping into the end zone for style points.

The crowd went wild! NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell mentioned that around 45,000 fans made the trip from California, and the stadium was packed with 63,400 seats filled.

It was a tough first half for Darnold, who was making his playoff debut. He got sacked five times and even threw an interception. Minnesota had a shot at the NFC’s top seed but struggled in their last regular-season game against Detroit. Now, questions loom about Darnold’s future with the Vikings after a rough finish to the season.