Matthew Stafford dedicated the Rams Wild Card win to the people of Los Angeles shortly after the team’s defense sacked Sam Darnold into oblivion. However, it seems the Rams had extra motivation to smash the Vikings thanks to the big mouth of Lions head coach Dan Campbell, according to a post on X by Mike Garafolo.
The #Rams used Dan Campbell’s “See you in two weeks” to #Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell as added motivation this week and weren’t shy about letting everybody know. Safety Quentin Lake & Co. backed up their words tonight.
Los Angeles turned in a dominant defensive performance, sacking Darnold an NFL playoff record-tying nine times in a 27-9 blowout that left no doubt who the Vikings are and who the Rams can be.
Rams safety Quentin Lake predicted good performance
Maybe Campbell wanted to motivate the Rams, thinking his team might not be able to beat the Vikings a third time. And maybe he wants the Rams to beat the Eagles because that would be another tough matchup. Whatever the case, the Rams used Campbell’s words.
Before the game, Lake said, “The thing I want to say is I hope they don’t overlook us. Obviously, they just played the Lions. And there was a little message that Danny Campbell gave. (But) we’re a team that has everything we need to do well in the playoffs. We’re going to do some damage. I truly believe that.”
Damage indeed. Lake totaled nine tackles, six solo, with one for loss. Seven different Rams players got into the sack mix, adding up to nine.
Of course, it didn’t hurt that Darnold must have seen those ghosts again. He held the ball like Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve.
Still, give the Rams credit. They played a new brand of defense. Head coach Sean McVay gave his assistants credit, according to the therams.com.
“I thought Chris (Shula) and the defensive coaches did an excellent job of creating an understanding of the intent,” McVay said. “Why we’re doing it, and then being able to get it done. Get to them at the right times, and then the execution to come to life. There’s nothing better than that.”
Linebacker Michael Hoecht said the team had good matchups.
“There was match ups that we liked, and I think the biggest thing for us is not really about the other team,” said Hoecht. “It’s about playing within our scheme and structure, trusting each other to be in the right spots and be on time. The way this group has come from where we started the year to now, we just have a really good feeling of timing and tempo and playing together.”
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