Thursday Night Football Week 8 Recap

No team who had faced the Detroit Lions had gone on to win their next game, a trend the Vikings were looking to shake in their Thursday night showdown with the Rams. That game against the Lions saw Minnesota take its first loss of the season, as the Vikings came into Thursday Night with a 5-1 record.

The Rams had reason to be confident, as they got their top two wide receivers back for the game, as Cooper Kupp made his first appearance since week two while Puka Nacua returned to action after going down with an injury in week one. The offense certainly struggled with their absences, as the Rams limped into this week eight contest with a record of 2-4.

Did Minnesota break the post-Detroit streak, or did the Rams find success after getting their best offensive weapons back? Keep reading to find out.

Sam Darnold’s Homecoming

It seems like a lifetime ago, but before Sam Darnold was chased out of New York after the Jets took him third overall in the draft, he was the quarterback for the USC Trojans. Before this season’s career resurgence for Darnold, he spent time in Carolina, where had a forgettable stint as the QB of the Panthers before spending the 2023 season as Brock Purdy’s backup in San Francisco. Darnold was expected to backup rookie JJ McCarthy, but due to a preseason knee injury, Darnold became the starter.

While many pundits had low expectations, Darnold has led the Vikings offense better than anyone could have hoped. Coming into the game, the Vikings had outscored their opponents in the first quarter by a remarkable 55 point margin, a testament to Minnesota’s prowess on both sides of the ball. Darnold picked up right where he left off, leading the VIkes down the field on their first drive, and tossing a touchdown to Josh Oliver.

Nacua and Kupp Return for the Rams

The biggest story for the Rams coming into this Thursday Night Football game was the return of Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, who had played only 24 snaps together this season due to injuries. The first drive saw a heavy does of Nacua, who Matt Stafford connected with on multiple plays before tying the game up with a pass to Kyren Williams.

After the Vikings scored on their next possession, Stafford finally connected with Kupp in the end zone for six. This came after multiple targets for Kupp, but he and Stafford were unable to connect. The hometown crowd was elated to see Kupp back in the endzone.

After both teams scored twice, the defenses took over, as the Vikings and Rams traded a pair of punts. As the first half came to a close, the score was still knotted up at 14.

The Story of the Second Half

The Rams got the ball to start the second half, and after a solid start to the drive, Matt Stafford threw an interception, the first turnover committed by either team in the game. However, the Vikings were facing a tough situation of their own. In the closing seconds of the first half, Christian Darrisaw, Minnesota’s left tackle, got rolled up on and fell to the ground clutching his ankle. Darrisaw was quickly taken to the locker room, and the team announced that he would not return to the game early in the third quarter.

The third quarter was largely uneventful, at least when it came to offense. Minnesota did move down the field, but the Rams defense took advantage of the loss of Darrisaw and held the Vikings to a field goal. When they got the ball back, the Rams did manage to put together a scoring drive as Matt Stafford found Demarcus Robinson, who was well-covered on the play, for a touchdown to give Los Angeles a 21-17 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Before the game started, all of the attention, at least for the Rams, was on the returns of Cupp and Nacua. However, it was Demarcus Robinson, the 30-year-old wide receiver who is on his fourth team since 2016, who made the biggest impact on the second half. After his contested catch that put the Rams on top in the third quarter, Robinson found a soft spot in the Vikings’ coverage in the fourth quarter, where Stafford found him for his second score of the game. The Rams tacked on extra point to make it 28-20.

After holding the Rams to a punt with less than two minutes to go in the game, the Vikings got the ball back at their own five yard line with 1:46 to go. That’s where the loss of Darrisaw came into play. While the play was certainly controversial, Sam Darnold was brought down in the endzone for a safety, giving the Rams a 10-point lead and possession of the ball. Replay showed that Darnold was brought down by his facemask, but the play was not reviewable and no flag was thrown.

The Vikings were hoping to break the streak of teams losing the week after playing Detroit. Instead, they dropped their second straight contest, dropping them to 5-2. Meanwhile, the Rams, who got their two most proven offensive weapons back, climbed to 3-4, after picking up their second consecutive win.

The Rams will make the short trip to Seattle for a week nine game against the division rival Seahawks. Meanwhile, the Vikings will try to right the ship as they head home to host the Indianapolis Colts.

Next week’s Thursday Night Football matchup should be a good one, as the Houston Texans head to the Big Apple to take on Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets on Amazon Prime.