Rams Throttle Vikings as the NFL Wild Card Weekend Comes to a Close

The Minnesota Vikings played their first games in the NFL in the 1961 season. Since that time, they have seldom failed to disappoint their fans. There are too many instances to go into here, but a few examples are in order. The Vikings are 0-4 in Super Bowls, all of which were from the 1969-76 seasons. They’ve lost six NFC Championship games since then, plus a whole lot more Wild Card and Division playoff games. Minnesota was 13-4 in 2022 but was one and done in the playoffs that year. This year, they were 14-3 and were a Wild Card only because the Detroit Lions were a phenomenal 15-2 and won the NFC North.

Minnesota opened the playoffs in Glendale, Arizona against the NFC West champion Los Angeles Rams (the game was moved from L.A. due to the terrible wild fires in southern California). The Rams were 10-7 during the regular season, and one of those victories was over the Vikings in late October. But that was only by two points, and about 2 1/2 months ago. The playoffs are a whole different thing.

It was definitely different this time around. The Rams got off to a 10-0 1st quarter lead, and made it 24-3 at halftime. The Rams scored a field goal in the third quarter, and the Vikings finally scored a touchdown with 5:05 left in the quarter (followed by a missed two point conversion) in what turned out to be the final scoring of the game. The Rams dominated on defense, sacking Vikings QB Sam Darnold nine times for a whopping 82 yards in losses. When the carnage was over, the Rams won 27-9.

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Minnesota finishes with a record of 14-4, two of those losses were to the Lions, and the other two were to the Rams.