Monday night’s wild-card matchup between the Minnesota Vikings and the Los Angeles Rams will look a bit different than expected, after the NFL moved the game from SoFi Stadium to State Farm Stadium because of the Los Angeles wildfires. The Rams will still likely have a hometown crowd behind them, but it’ll be an uphill battle against these Vikings, who can lay claim to being the top wild-card team in NFL history — they’re the first wild-card team in NFL history with 14 wins, and just the second to have won 13 games.
Despite not winning the NFC North, history may be on the Vikings’ side — in 1999, the 13-3 Tennessee Titans were a wild-card team, and after the Music City Miracle (surely Kevin Dyson’s favorite of the two legendary plays in those playoffs that he’s remembered for), they went on to Super Bowl XXXIV.
But back in Week 8, the Los Angeles Rams topped the Vikings 30-20, just as they were turning their season around after a 1-4 start, plagued by injuries on offense. That loss was the Vikings’ second of the year, and they went on to rip off nine straight wins. The Rams got hot after that, too, finishing the year 10-7 and on top of the NFC West, with their full complement of top skill players healthy for the finishing kick and postseason.
How to watch Vikings vs. Rams NFC wild-card game
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Location: State Farm Stadium | Glendale, Ariz.
Channel: ESPN, ABC, ESPN2 (ManningCast)
Streaming: ESPN+, Fubo
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