Turf Show Times
“When they get their hands on him... get him on the ground and try to get the Rams’ offense behind schedule”
Following a 9-3 finish to secure their second straight playoff trip, the L.A. Rams will host a rematch with the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night. Besides the Lions, the Rams are the only team to defeat Minnesota this season, and they likely want redemption for missing out on the conference’s top seed in the regular season finale.
Before LA hosts their first playoff game since the 2022 NFC Championship, I spoke with Christopher Gates from the Daily Norseman to get his thoughts on Sam Darnold, Brian Flores’ defense and how best to defend Justin Jefferson.
Q - Sam Darnold has been the NFL’s best story this season, but had a dreadful game in Detroit, completing 44% of his passes in the 31-9 loss. How does Darnold get back on track against the Rams?
A - I think a lot of it will have to do with how well Kevin O’Connell can adjust to what the Rams might want to do defensively. Detroit continued to send a ton of pressure at Darnold, and the Vikings continued calling plays with longer developing routes that didn’t give him a whole lot of chances. The Vikings need to find some sort of quicker, shorter passing game if the Rams attempt to emulate that strategy on Monday, and if they don’t it could be another long day for Darnold and the offense. It’s a bit puzzling why the Vikings don’t already have a solid quick game, given that they have so many players who are so good after the catch. Their game plan in nearly every game this year has been to try to hit chunk plays, and when those plays get taken away they struggle. If they can’t make adjustments this week, they’ll likely struggle again.
Q - Lions cornerback Amik Robertson shadowed Justin Jefferson on 35 of his 43 routes in Week 18 with the All-Pro hauling in just 3 receptions for 54 yards on 7 targets. Obviously, man-to-man won’t work against Jefferson every week, and LA gave up 115 yards on 8 catches in the first meeting. How was Robertson so effective in coverage and what is the Rams’ best strategy in limiting JJ’s damage in the passing game?
A - Again, Robertson’s “effectiveness” in coverage had a lot to do with the pressure that Detroit was bringing. On film, you can see Jefferson getting open quite frequently, but by the time it happened, Darnold was either running for his life or having to throw the ball away. I don’t think anything that Detroit did on the back end was anything spectacular, but getting pressure on the quarterback is the great equalizer. (Oh, and Roberston held a lot, but you didn’t hear that from me.) If—and I hate to keep beating this horse—the Vikings can make the necessary adjustments to keep Darnold upright, there should be different results. The...
