The Minnesota Vikings know they face a huge challenge in the Wild Card round of the NFL playoffs. Drawing the Los Angeles Rams right out of the gate isn't ideal since they are one of only two teams to beat the purple and gold in the regular season.
Not only that, but Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell came to Minnesota from the Rams where he acted as the offensive coordinator under Rams head coach Sean McVay, adding more drama to the matchup.
Minnesota is coming off a game that saw them collapse against the Detroit Lions with the division and top seed in the NFC on the line in the regular season finale. The team cannot allow a repeat of that type of performance.
Vikings not ruling out Daniel Jones playing on Monday vs. Rams
One of the more interesting transactions leading up to this game was the waiving of third quarterback Brett Rypien and the promotion of Daniel Jones to the 53-man roster from the practice squad.
O'Connell has been asked multiple times about his plan with Jones for the Wils Card round but hasn't given any type of definite answer about what they are looking to do with the former New York Giants starter.
On Saturday, Kevin O'Connell was asked again about Jones and once again left the door open to have flexibility with Daniel Jones without changing his tone about Sam Darnold or Nick Mullens as the top two options.
"We wanted to make sure, as we hopefully move forward over the next month, that we're going to do the things that we...that give us the best chance to win. That very easily could be something that may look different here and there but obviously not something for the benefit of our players and our quarterbacks that I need to be discussing at this podium."Kevin O'Connell vis Vikings.com
Daniel Jones is an interesting player who has had time to learn on the Vikings' practice squad. Promoting him to the 53-man option allows Minnesota the flexibility to make him the emergency third quarterback or keep him active on game day to plug him in if Kevin O'Connell likes the situation for him.
The Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams close out Super Wild Card Weekend with the final game on the slate. The Monday night showdown was moved to Arizona because of the conditions in California but it should still be a widely viewed contest that is more competitive than the first meeting between the two squads.
