The Los Angeles Rams clinched the No. 4 seed in the NFC playoffs and will host the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night as part of NFL Wild Card Weekend.
The Vikings had a chance to clinch home-field advantage throughout the playoffs but fell to the Detroit Lions in Week 18 and dropped down to the No. 5 seed.
The Vikings still had an excellent season as they finished tied with the Philadelphia Eagles for the second-best record in the NFC at 14-3.
Minnesota poses a lot of challenges for L.A. as they are a well-rounded team on both sides of the ball. On offense, the Vikings are led by former USC Trojans quarterback Sam Darnold, All-Pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson and Pro Bowl running back Aaron Jones.
Minnesota also has a stout defense and is particularly stingy against the run. “Excellent team. You look at it, 14-3,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said of the Vikings.
“Obviously, we’re very familiar with their coaching staff. The respect, the admiration, and what a great job [Vikings Head Coach] Kevin [O’Connell], [Offensive Coordinator] Wes [Phillips], [Senior Offensive Assistant] Chris O’Hara, and [Assistant Inside Linebackers Coach] Thad Bogardus did when they were here.
“Defensively, they’ve been excellent. They pose a lot of different problems. Offensively, Kevin does an excellent job of accentuating guy’s skill sets. Obviously [Vikings Quarterback] Sam [Darnold] has had a great year. It’s cool to see [Vikings Running Back] Cam Akers do his thing and make some plays for them over the last few weeks. [Vikings Running Back] Aaron Jones is dangerous.
“Their receivers are obviously well-documented. [Vikings Wide Receiver] Justin Jefferson is as unique as it gets. They move him around and do a great job of putting him in a variety of spots. I think [Vikings Wide Receiver] Jordan Addison is an excellent football player that…you see, he’s a number one receiver on other teams. You’ve seen [Vikings Wide Receiver Jalen] Nailor make a bunch of plays and getting [Vikings Tight End T.J.] Hockenson back has been big for them with the different things that he can provide, not exclusive to just the pass game.
“It’s a great challenge. They’re really good on [special] teams. Obviously, [Vikings Special Teams Coordinator] Matt Daniels is their coordinator who is here with us. It’s going to be a great challenge, but it’s NFL playoff football so we’re excited about it and we’re diving into that preparation as we speak.”
Sean McVay sees similarities between Rams & Vikings
As Sean McVay noted, the Rams and Vikings have several ties to each other. Head coach Kevin O’Connell is in his third season with the team after spending two years as L.A.’s offensive coordinator.
“What I see is he’s done an excellent job of morphing it to his players. I think that sometimes can get a little bit overemphasized,” McVay said of O’Connell.
“There’s a foundational philosophy that I think people carry offensively, but he’s put his own spin on it that works for his team and there’s been a great evolution. You really look at it, I’ve been really impressed with what they’ve done and I enjoy watching their tape.
“There are some similarities of things that we’ve done together and then there have been some things that they have kind of added and that fits their group. Very impressed nonetheless.”
