After Hall of Famer Aaron Donald’s retirement, many were skeptical about how the Rams’ defense would fare this season. While the young cohort hasn’t had a consistent season so far, they ensured they brought their A-game during Wild Card weekend—so much so that the secondary sacked Vikings QB Sam Darnold a whopping nine times. It was pivotal in the Rams’ 27–9 blowout win over the opponent.
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Darnold had been having a breakout year before Monday’s outing, so it was disappointing to see him falter at a pivotal moment. However, as Nightcap hosts Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson analyzed, the Rams’ defense simply outplayed the quarterback and his offense in every way imaginable.
Unc and Ocho couldn’t help but notice how every other Rams defender had a sack over Sam Darnold. In Shannon Sharpe’s words, the Rams were all over the Vikings star. Unfortunately for the seventh-year QB, this was not a hyperbole as he really had one of the worst showings as a QB in the NFL playoffs.
Here are some stats: After two quarters, the Vikings QB recorded 6 sacks – the most by an NFL star in the last 25 years. Moreover, Darnold lost 82 yards across his total 9 sacks – the most ever in an NFL Playoff Game.
Shannon, in particular, was upset with how easily Sam got sacked in certain instances. From making avoidable fumbles to remaining static and going down easily under pressure, Shannon didn’t like the QB’s performance one bit. At the same time, he did cut the QB some slack by praising how the Rams exceeded all expectations with their energetic pressing.
“Byron Young had one and a half sack, [Michael] Hoecht had half a sack, [Ahkello] Witherspoon had a sack, [Cobie] Durant had a sack, [Desjuan] Johnson had a sack… They were really all over Sam Darnold. He didn’t have an opportunity and then he fumbled, gave up a scoop-and-score, and that was really it. But this defense… look, we know the Rams can pressure the quarterbacks, but we didn’t see this coming.”
Co-host Chad Johnson agreed with Unc’s take as he expressed his shock at the Rams’ defense’s proactive and aggressive play. Until a month ago, the Vikings were widely considered the titleholders of the No. 1 pressure defense in the league.
Ocho expected the same type of production from the Vikings on Monday, but to his surprise, it was the Rams who flipped the script and marched in with intensity. The former Bengals WR anticipated Matthew Stafford would be bombarded with pressure for four quarters, but as it turned out, it was his counterpart who suffered this fate.
Ocho was stunned seeing the script flip and realized that in the playoffs, regular season form rarely matters. The team that shows up on gameday prevails and has a chance to live another day—but not the team that gets ousted; no second chances for them, as Chad realized.
“From a defensive standpoint, I gave the edge to the Vikings because they’re a pressure team and 98% of the time, they get to the QB, and make him uncomfortable in decision making and rushing throws. So that’s what I thought I was gonna see tonight, but l’m looking at the game [and I am] like, ‘What in the world is going on?’ Just like you always say, no matter how you play in the regular season, when you get to the postseason, it’s just one game.”
As good as the Rams’ defense was against the Vikings, their real test comes against the Philadelphia Eagles’ proven offense, led by Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley. With how dynamic the two are, it will be interesting to see if the unit can thwart them. Safe to say, we have another exciting matchup on our hands!
