NFL: Los Angeles Rams beat Minnesota Vikings for seven consecutive matchup

The Minnesota Vikings once again lost for the seventh consecutive matchup, despite an impressive start for the Vikings in the first quarter, scoring two consecutive touchdowns on Thursday night in Los Angeles.

However, for the second game in a row, Kevin O’Connell’s team lost momentum, managing only two field goals over the final six drives, ultimately falling 30 to 20 to the L.A. Rams.

“We just didn’t sustain enough, and we weren’t on the field enough. I mean 50 plays, again, when it’s a game like this and their offense is making some plays and sustaining drives and kind of eating a lot of clock, it can feel like an awfully short game to you as an offense when you’re either scoring or going backwards, either self-inflicted or sacks, so we’ve got to just try to find a way to mitigate that,” O’Connell said, via the team’s official website. ”

In the loss, the Vikings were out-gained 386 to 276 yards, allowed more first downs (26 to 17), and only converted two of their four red zone trips, while the Rams capitalised on all three of their red zone visits with touchdowns.

“I feel like these last two losses [have] just been self-inflicted. The non-execution on certain plays that we need is definitely something that hurts us in the long run,” receiver Justin Jefferson said.

Minnesota was penalised nine times, including five infractions that gave the Rams new sets of downs, several of which came from offensive pre-snap penalties. The Vikings’ defense also struggled, generating minimal pressure on Matthew Stafford, failing to sack him, and recording just four plays with QB pressures. This marked the second consecutive game in which they allowed 30 or more points after a strong 5 and 0 season start, during which they had not allowed that many points in any game.

In a pivotal moment, Sam Darnold was sacked three times, with one late in the fourth quarter forcing a punt that allowed the Rams to run down much of the clock. The final sack, which resulted in a safety, involved Rams’ Byron Young grabbing Darnold by the facemask, though no penalty was called. Referee Tra Blake explained in a pool report that he and umpire Carl Paganelli, the officials closest to the play, did not have a clear view of the potential penalty.

“The quarterback was facing the opposite direction from me so I did not have a good look at it. I did not have a look, and I did not see the facemask being pulled. The umpire had players between him and the quarterback, so he did not get a look at it. He was blocked out as well. So that was the thing, we did not see it so we couldn’t call it. We couldn’t see it,” Blake said.

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