Los Angeles Leans on Stars: Rams’ Playoff Win Over Vikings Exposes Heroes and Zeroes
Things looked incredibly easy for the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night in their 27-9 win over the Minnesota Vikings, a score that doesn’t even accurately show how lopsided this game was. The Rams led 24-3 at halftime and never came close to letting the Vikings back in it, dominating defensively with nine sacks, two takeaways and three stops on fourth down.
The Rams will now turn their attention to the Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional round, but there were a lot of players to celebrate in this win. The defense had a sack party, Matthew Stafford was sharp as usual and Tyler Higbee was on his way to a career game before getting hurt in the second quarter.
Here are our studs and duds from Monday’s win.
Stud: Byron Young
Young set the tone right away, recording a tackle for a loss on the Vikings’ first play of the game and sacking Sam Darnold on the very next play. That led to a punt by Minnesota and it was just the start for Los Angeles’ defense. In the first half alone, Young had four tackles, two QB hits and two tackles for a loss, dominating on the edge for the Rams.
Stud: Quentin Lake
Lake was absolutely everywhere in this game. Playing his usual role in the slot, he was all over the field no matter what the Vikings tried to do. He made a great tackle in the red zone on Justin Jefferson to force a field goal attempt, made a tackle for a loss on Cam Akers when he tried to bounce a run outside and his blitz on Jared Verse’s fumble return touchdown made Darnold uncomfortable. He also stopped Jefferson on the Vikings’ two-point conversion attempt to keep him out of the end zone.
He’s become a pure playmaker for the Rams this year and he never comes off the field, either.
Stud: Kobie Turner
Turner sometimes gets overshadowed by the flashy new rookies, Verse and Braden Fiske, but he’s a dominant player in his own right. He showed that again on Monday night with two sacks in the first half alone, including one on fourth down to give the Rams great field position just before halftime – which they then converted into a touchdown and a 24-3 lead.
