Wildfires force Rams, Vikings to head to Arizona

LOS ANGELES — Sean McVay got calls from Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell and offensive coordinator Wes Phillips during the past week, but they had nothing to do with their teams’ upcoming wild-card playoff game.

Friendship is much bigger than football, and McVay’s former colleagues were just making sure everything was all right with the Rams coach’s family amid the devastating wildfires across the Los Angeles metroplex.

“It was more just friends checking up,” McVay said.

Several days of wildfires and poor air quality forced the NFL on Thursday to take the extraordinary step of moving Monday night’s game to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

While the neutral site will be a sobering reminder of the devastation wrought on some parts of the Rams’ home city, both teams and their coaches realize they’ve got to focus on football for the week.

“You feel helpless watching it from here, knowing how many people are being impacted,” said O’Connell, a North San Diego County native. “Definitely Southern California, I hold near and dear to my heart. I have some friends who have lost homes, and you just think about the impact it has on so many folks. … I know (the game) is going to be played, and we’ll just be going to play the football game regardless of where our plane lands.”

Both teams expect to be ready to meet the challenges created in an intriguing matchup when the NFC West champion Rams (10-7) host the Vikings (14-3), who won more games than any wild-card playoff team in NFL history.

Not many coaching staffs know each other better than the Rams’ coaches know the group led by O’Connell, Los Angeles’ offensive coordinator during its Super Bowl championship season three years ago. O’Connell has three former Rams assistants on his offensive staff, while McVay is a significant influence on O’Connell’s approach to being a head coach.

These teams also met in Week 8 of the regular season — and the Rams became one of just two teams to beat the Vikings all season long. Los Angeles’ 30-20 win on a short-week Thursday was one of the Rams’ best performances of the season, but it won’t be a blueprint for the rematch, according to McVay.

“You have to look at what’s recent,” McVay said. “What are the things that they might be trying to do, and what have we put on tape? It’s a balance of different things. That’s always the give and take, understanding that there is a game of inventory against one another, even though it was a little bit earlier in the season.”

Darnold’s debut

Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold is very familiar to football fans in his native Southern California, and the Rose Bowl-winning USC product will make his NFL playoff debut against the Rams — albeit not in Los Angeles as planned. Darnold didn’t play particularly well in Minnesota’s loss to Detroit last week, but he is eager for his first taste of playoff action after seven seasons in the league.

“Obviously, this is the time … where legacies are made, in the playoffs,” Darnold said. “Not just winning those games, but winning those later games, like AFC and NFC championships and winning Super Bowls. That’s how you’re going to be remembered at the end of the day. Looking 50 years down the line, that’s what people are going to remember.”

Sneaky good

While the Vikings’ strengths are obvious, the Rams don’t look intimidating from a statistical standpoint. They’re the lowest-scoring team to make the playoffs (21.6 points per game), and they gave up more yards on defense than any other playoff team (353.1). Yet Los Angeles won nine of 11 games out of its bye week while storming from last to first in the division and earning McVay’s sixth playoff berth in eight seasons.

Puka preparedness

The Vikings’ defense caught the Rams at an inopportune time in Week 8, when receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua both returned from injuries. The duo combined for 12 catches and 157 yards with a touchdown in the Rams’ win. Nacua’s return in particular from a five-game absence caught the Vikings off-guard when he was activated the afternoon before the game.

“Quite honestly, we were a little bit surprised that he was out there,” defensive coordinator Brian Flores said. “There was a little bit of scrambling. He was involved early. So obviously we know he’s going to be out there now, this time out. I’ll do a better job of making sure our guys are prepared from that standpoint.”

Dynamic duo

The game will be the playoff debut for Rams rookies Jared Verse and Braden Fiske, who have led the defense’s surprising second-half improvements. The former Florida State teammates combined for 13 sacks, 21 tackles for loss and countless big plays to harass opposing quarterback and ball-carriers. Verse had 1 1/2 sacks in the Rams’ first game against Minnesota.

Will Reichard deliver?

With the spotlight on Darnold, another key player for the Vikings bears watching in his first playoff game: rookie kicker Will Reichard.

The sixth-round draft pick’s college experience at Alabama provided him plenty of high-stakes experience, but after a stellar start, he strained his quadriceps in a Week 9 win over Indianapolis during which he had his first two missed field goals of the season. After a four-game absence, Reichard has missed four of 14 field goal attempts upon his return. He also shanked a kickoff last week at Detroit, setting up a Lions field goal.

“I’ve got the utmost confidence in this guy. He’s been through it all, the ups and downs, and he always responds in the right way, and I know he’ll do it coming up,” Vikings special teams coordinator Matt Daniels said.