The Los Angeles Rams took care of business during Wild Card Weekend by handling the Minnesota Vikings in a 27-9 victory. The stars of the game were the defense, who limited a 14-win Vikings team to just nine points, scored a touchdown on a Jared Verse fumble recovery and sacked Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold nine times, tying a playoff record.
Kobie Turner got two sacks, Neville Gallimore and Byron Young got 1.5 each, Ahkello Witherspoon, Cobie Durant and Desjuan Johnson all got one and Michael Hoecht and Braden Fiske got 0.5 each. Eight players on the Rams defense split up nine sacks.
Verse, surprisingly, didn’t get any. He ranked fourth on the team in sacks for the season with 4.5, but was unable to get home against Darnold and the Vikings. But he was in good spirits about it after the victory, joking about the sack party that the Rams had throughout the night, via Eric Williams of Fox:
Jared Verse on the Rams posting nine sacks and not getting one: “I was like, what the hell. It’s a sack party and I’m not invited.” pic.twitter.com/CDJIYm3Moc
— Eric Williams (@eric_d_williams) January 14, 2025
It’s good that Verse has a joking tone here and appears to be more happy for his teammates than disappointed he wasn’t able to get in on the fun. With the team’s only defensive touchdown, Verse can also more than say that he contributed to L.A.’s shutdown effort of the Vikings.
And perhaps it gives Verse some extra motivation to try and get home against Jalen Hurts when the Rams face the Philadelphia Eagles on the road during the Divisional Round of the postseason. Hurts is hard to take down due to his mobility and elite offensive line, but maybe Verse wants to be the one to start the sack party in Philadelphia.
Matthew Stafford: Rams felt motivated to win for L.A.
The Rams started the playoffs with a dominant win over the Vikings on Monday night as part of NFL Wild Card Weekend.
The game was played at State Farm Stadium, the home field of the Arizona Cardinals, due to the ongoing wildfires in Southern California.
In what has been a difficult situation for everyone involved, the Rams attempted to keep their focus on the game itself while also being sensitive to those affected by the tragedy.
Matthew Stafford spoke to ESPN’s Lisa Salters after the victory and said the Rams were trying to give the people of Los Angeles something to cheer about.
