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Rams represent L.A. in decisive playoff win in wake of wildfires

Rams running back Kyren Williams, left, stiff-arms Minnesota Vikings linebacker Jonathan Greenard during the first half of their NFC wild-card playoff game on Monday night in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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GLENDALE, Ariz. — Once the moment of silence was over, the message of resilience from Andrew Whitworth shared, the “L.A. Together” flag waved at midfield by Michael Hoecht, it was time for kickoff of the Rams’ wild-card playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings. Three hours of respite, for the Rams and their city, in the wake of the wildfires that burned through Los Angeles in the last week.

But the Rams weren’t satisfied with three hours. With a mere playoff appearance. They wanted more, and they took it, with a dominant 27-9 victory over the Vikings (14-4).

“There was definitely every excuse in the book to come out here and be lethargic and woe is me and all that, but we knew we weren’t playing just for us,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said while wearing an L.A. Fire Department hoody. “Playing for people back home that needed something to watch and enjoy, and I’m glad we could give that to them.”

With the win, the fourth-seeded Rams (11-7) advance to face the second-seeded Philadelphia Eagles in a divisional round game on Sunday.

The biggest question surrounding the Rams was how much emotional energy they would have left after this chaotic week. From evacuating their homes Thursday after the outbreak of the Kenneth fire to the relocation of the game to Arizona to their early departure Friday to the neighboring state, was their anything left in the tank?

But that query was answered definitively in the first six minutes of the game. Quarterback Matthew Stafford hit Puka Nacua for a 27-yard gain, then Tyler Higbee for 23. He drew the Vikings offsides on a fourth-and-1, then found Kyren Williams open in the end zone after a play-action fake for a quick 7-0 lead.

As he celebrated his score, Williams recreated the Dodgers’ interlocking L.A. logo with his hands before using them to make a heart.

“Just to give the city the hope, that we’re for them, we’re always going to be together as one,” Williams said. “We went out there to play our hearts out for the city of L.A.”

The Rams’ defense answered the bell with a quick three-and-out as Byron Young and Kobie Turner delivered a tone-setting second-down sack, and the Rams added a field goal for a quick two-possession lead.

It was the defense that kept the momentum going as Stafford stalled as a 10-for-10 start turned into a 1-for-6 slump.

First, it was cornerback Cobie Durant, who had lost his starting job a few weeks ago, coming in unblocked for a drive-killing sack of Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold. When a roughing the punter penalty put the defense back on the field, Durant simply jumped a third-down route for an interception.

The Rams couldn’t capitalize on offense, but another corner blitz bore even more fruit. Ahkello Witherspoon came in off the right side for his career sack, stripping the ball from Darnold. Jared Verse, the Rams’ lone Pro Bowler, picked it up and ran 57 yards, flipping into the end zone for his first career touchdown.

Meanwhile, the barrage of Darnold orchestrated by Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula continued, unrelentingly. The Rams totaled six in the first half, the most by a team in the first half of a playoff game in 25 years.

Turner swallowed Darnold up on fourth down under the two-minute warning, and the Rams took advantage of the short field for tight end Davis Allen’s first touchdown of the season.

Despite the unusual scenery, the Rams did everything they could to make it feel like a home game, from the paint on the field to the Mariachi Rams to Nita Strauss’ guitar filling the stadium to the blue banners thanking fire fighters and first responders. But it almost felt like a college bowl game, too. Rams fans filled the seats behind their teams’ sidelines, and the Vikings sat on the opposite side of the stadium.

But the sense of a neutral site faded as the Rams built their 24-3 halftime lead, the largest lead after two quarters in franchise playoff history, per ESPN.

Each “Rams house” cheer grew louder as the Vikings’ “Skol” chant faded into the background. The fans in blue who traveled by plane and bus and car to be there for the hometown team continued to bring the energy, just as they did from the onset of player introductions.

“Understanding that there was a really cool opportunity to come out here and be a positive, be something that L.A. could hold onto, a moment of joy and energy that takes people away from the craziness of their lives and things that are going on outside of us right now,” receiver Cooper Kupp said. “There was a responsibility I think guys felt to put to be able to put their best foot forward. You go out through the tunnel and that weight hits you front and center, ‘These people are here and the energy that they brought, the atmosphere that they created, you wanted to make the most of that.”

The Rams never let the Vikings threaten that lead. Hoecht tied the team’s season high with a seventh sack of Darnold, forcing a white-flag, fourth-quarter punt by Minnesota, then threw up the interlocking L.A.

Neville Gallimore added No. 8 later in the quarter, making the Rams the first team since the 1970 merger to record eight sacks and a defensive TD in a playoff game, per ESPN. Then Desjuan Johnson’s made it nine to tie the playoff record.

“We’re not quite ready to enjoy that yet,” Hoecht said, “because the ultimate goal is to win a Super Bowl.”

They overcame injuries to Higbee (chest) and Witherspoon (thigh), because that’s what this team has done all year. Overcome and carry on, whether it be from injury or loss. Or, this week, a fire that displaced the entire team. Even that could not stop these Rams as their season continues, two wins away from a return to the Super Bowl.

“All those scars were necessary to be able to get us to the point that we are today,” head coach Sean McVay said. “There’s a resilience, there’s a grit. You learn from those challenging setbacks and that’s where real growth can occur if people take the right approach and you have the right kinds of people, and we certainly do.”