The 2024 regular season is over and the playoffs begin this weekend. Six playoff games will happen between Saturday and Monday. That will dwindle the field down to eight total teams for the divisional round. On Monday, the Minnesota Vikings were supposed to be on the road to face the Los Angeles Rams.
However, wildfires have ravaged California this week and the league has moved the game in the “interest of public safety.” The Vikings vs. Rams playoff game will be played in Arizona at the Cardinals’ stadium. Kickoff will still take place at the scheduled time. A slight adjustment the NFL needed to make but it’s a smart decision to keep players, coaches, and fans safe.
Wildfires in LA caused the Vikings vs. Rams game to be moved to Arizona
Breaking: In the interest of public safety, the NFL announced the Jan. 13 Monday Night Football Wild Card game between the Rams and Vikings has been moved from Inglewood, CA to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ and will be played that same night at 8 PM ET. pic.twitter.com/cmA6pTfPFL
— ESPN (@espn) January 10, 2025
On Thursday, the NFL announced the Vikings vs. Rams playoff game would be moved to Arizona. Wildfires have been out of control in Los Angeles this week. The league has been monitoring the situation since Monday and felt moving the game to State Farm Stadium was in the best interest of everyone. A few hours before the NFL announced this, another fire broke out in an area several miles from the Rams’ training complex. As a result, media availability was canceled on Thursday.
The Rams will travel to Arizona on Friday and will hold a walk-through practice on Saturday at the Cardinals’ facility. Los Angeles won the NFC South in 2024 and was supposed to host a playoff game. Wildfires in LA changed that but the Rams still have a spot in the playoffs. On Monday, they will face the 14-3 Vikings who had a chance to have the #1 seed in Week 18. However, they lost to the Lions but are still a major threat in the NFC. Monday night will be Sam Darnold’s first career start in a playoff game. On the flip side, Matthew Stafford will make his 18th career playoff start. The Vikings are favored (-2.5) via odds on BetOnline.
Note: Odds via BetOnline. Accurate as of Jan. 10, 2025
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