Rams motivated to play for Los Angeles amid wildfires
After going through a whirlwind of events with the wildfires around Los Angeles County over the last several days, the Los Angeles Rams cruised past the Minnesota Vikings to a convincing 27-9 wildcard round win.
The Rams controlled the game in all phases in their pseudo-home-field advantage in Arizona at State Farm Stadium on Monday night.
Star quarterback Matthew Stafford spoke to his team playing for more than themselves against the Vikings.
“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,” Stafford said via ESPN. “[We were] playing for people back home that needed something to watch and enjoy and I’m glad we could give that to them.”
The Rams had their home playoff game being moved from SoFi Stadium due to the wildfire. The organization experienced concerns regarding the fires possibly reaching some of their player’s and coach’s homes.
All that on top of the devastation that the several wildfires caused around the Southern California area. Despite that, The Rams channeled that motivation into an all-around performance.
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It featured Stafford leading the offense on three scoring drives while 209 yards with two touchdown passes. Meanwhile, the defense dictated the game by setting a franchise record and tying an NFL record with nine sacks while forcing a pair of turnovers with a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown.
Los Angeles moves forward to the divisional round with a tough road matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.
