Vikings Claim They Were Blindsided by Rams in Week 8
The Minnesota Vikings were projected to win a pedestrian six or seven games in the 2024 campaign, the third of Kevin O’Connell’s tenure. Not so fast, said the guys in the locker room, winning 14 of the 17 regular season contests and earning a spot in the postseason with multiple games remaining.
Vikings Claim They Were Blindsided by Rams in Week 8
Of the three losses, two came against the Detroit Lions, who were simply a better football team in the regular season this year. Unfortunately, they were also in the NFC North, so 14 wins aren’t enough for the division title.
The other loss was in Los Angeles when the Vikings traveled there to compete against the Rams after only four days of preparation. A Thursday game after a tough loss against the Lions on the road is about as tough as a matchup can be.
In that game, the Vikings struggled to stop Matthew Stafford’s aerial attack. The former division rival is still playing at an extremely high level, and the offense is among the best when healthy. Health, however, was a major problem for Sean McVay’s squad earlier in the year without Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, as well as numerous offensive linemen.
The Vikings were competing against a banged-up offensive line (and lost that matchup for inexplicable reasons), but the receiving corps was on board. Kupp returned a few weeks prior to the Minnesota bout, but Nacua shockingly suited up, and the Vikings didn’t expect that at all.
Defensive coordinator Brian Flores told reporters on Tuesday, six days before the rematch:
“When a guy is not in, he comes off of the short-term IR, short week, quite honestly, we were a little bit surprised that he was out there, that he was brought up. It was a night game on a Thursday, so we found out, let’s call it, four hours before the game. There was a little bit of, I don’t want to say the word scrambling, but we had seen a little bit of him from the previous year but not much this year so there was a little bit of scrambling.”
Nacua is one of the league’s top receivers. He broke a bunch of records in his rookie season last year and was expected to continue that type of play. He suffered a PCL sprain in Week 1 against the Lions and had to be placed on IR, forcing him to miss the next games.
His return against the Vikings was highly surprising because it was a short week, and nobody really expected him to suit up. But he did, and he was fantastic from the get-go. A reported snap count turned out to be a smokescreen, and he caught seven passes for 106 yards.
This season, Nacua collected 79 passes for 990 yards and three touchdowns in only 11 games. He is leading the league in yards per route run by a mile.
Flores promises his group will be prepared this time, “We know he’s going to be out there this time, I’ll do a better job of making sure our guys are prepared from that standpoint.”
The Vikings are coming off a game in which Detroit’s offense was contained for a while but was unstoppable in the fourth quarter. In the first meeting against the Rams, the Vikings allowed 30 points.
“They are a very different team with Puka out there, very different,” Flores emphasized. “He brings an element in both the run and the pass game, that’s why he is the player that he is. He opens things up for other players, Cooper Kupp being one, certainly. And it’s really two number ones that you’re dealing with.”
The Rams employ three major weapons: Nacua and Kupp, who are one of the top wideout duos, and running back Kyren Williams. Both wideouts are elite blockers from the receiving spot, helping Williams thrive. It’s one of the most balanced offenses in the league because they can win through the air and on the ground.
Flores needs to find ways to stop the Rams, an offense that has been hot when all three standouts are on the field. He has until Monday to find those solutions.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and PFF helped with this article.
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and prefers Classic rock over other genres. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt