GLENDALE, Ariz. — At practice on Friday, Cooper Kupp immediately noticed the plumes of smoke emanating from the direction of his house near the Rams‘ Woodland Hills, California, facility.
Afterward, he quickly dressed and headed home to make sure it was safe. Kupp had already evacuated his family to Santa Barbara with the fires raging in Los Angeles creeping closer to his home.
“I can see my neighborhood from the field,” Kupp told FOX Sports. “We could see the smoke like right on top of our neighborhood in the middle of practice. As soon as practice was over, guys were running to the parking lot to go get their stuff and be able to make sure their families were good.”
When a fire broke out near the team’s training facility in Woodland Hills, several players and coaches received an alert on Friday that they had to evacuate or leave their homes out of caution. That included head coach Sean McVay, who made sure wife Veronika and young son Jordan were safe.
The Rams were scheduled to host Monday’s wild-card game at SoFi Stadium. However, the NFL moved the contest because it didn’t want to pull first responders working to contain the wildfires to staff the game in Los Angeles. So on Monday night at State Farm Stadium outside Phoenix, with the raging wildfires back home as a backdrop, the Rams were razor-focused as they jogged out of the tunnel at their temporary home field to face the Minnesota Vikings.
Yes, they were playing the first 14-win wild card team in NFL history, but L.A. had already beaten the Vikings in Week 8 this season.
The Rams expected to win.
And they did so in convincing fashion, a 27-9 victory for McVay over his protégé, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell. So it’s the Rams who will face the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC divisional round on Sunday. The Vikings will make offseason vacation plans and start thinking about who their quarterback will be next season.
While the disjointed week made it tough to prepare, Kupp said winning was important.
“It was huge,” Kupp told FOX Sports. “It was an opportunity to shine, a moment to provide some joy, something that has been so contrary to what has been the week for people.
“Being able to run out there and see all those people that sacrificed to come to Arizona, in the midst of everything that’s going on, and still make the trip to come watch a football game. We felt the responsibility to make sure we were ready to go.”
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford started the game on a heater, completing his first 10 passes. He finished 19-of-27 for 209 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. With his effort, Stafford passed Warren Moon (2,578) for the fourth-most yards in a QB’s first nine career playoff appearances with 2,672.
Even more impressive, since 2021, Stafford has a 19-3 record from December to February. His 86.4% winning percentage is the best among all quarterbacks who have played at least 10 games. He is 5-1 in the playoffs as a member of the Rams.
Stafford was particularly effective against Minnesota’s blitzing defense, finishing 14-of-18 for 178 yards and two scores when the Vikings brought more than four rushers, which happened 69% of the time, per Next Gen Stats.
“I just tried to go out there and be aggressive,” Stafford said. “At this time of year, it doesn’t really reward you to be timid. You have to go out there and make plays; you have to go out and win games in the playoffs. You can’t just hope that things fall your way.”
Matthew Stafford, Rams shut down Sam Darnold, Vikings
For Minnesota, Sam Darnold struggled in his first postseason start. He was sacked nine times, turned the ball over twice and was pressured on 52% of his snaps.
With former Rams teammate Aaron Donald watching from the stands, defensive co-captain Kobie Turner led the sack party for Los Angeles with two. The Rams finished with eight players who recorded at least half a sack, and L.A.’s nine sacks tied an NFL single-game record.
Jared Verse returned a Darnold fumble 57 yards for a score. But the Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate was disappointed he didn’t get a sack.
“I’m like, what the hell, it’s a sack party and I’m not invited,” joked Verse.
The Rams had a traveling party of 335 people, including players, coaches and families. The team flew to Arizona on two planes provided by the Arizona Cardinals on Friday. They also provided free bus transportation from SoFi Stadium to State Farm Stadium for 1,500 season-ticket holders.
The last time the NFL held a game in Arizona due to wildfires in Southern California was 22 years ago. On Oct. 27, 2003, fires in San Diego forced the Chargers to move their Monday Night Football game against the Miami Dolphins to Arizona State‘s Sun Devil Stadium.
On Monday, Rams fans showed up in force and tailgated outside State Farm Stadium.
That didn’t go unnoticed by players like Rams outside linebacker Michael Hoecht.
“Running out of the tunnel and just hearing the noise and just seeing the amount of blue that was in the stands, I’m just so thankful that all those people traveled,” Hoecht said. “It means the world to us that they came to support. Hopefully, it means the world to them that we can continue to battle and continue to fight for them.”
Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.
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