The Los Angeles Rams felt right at home in Arizona.

Matthew Stafford's two first-half touchdown passes and a dominating defensive performance moved the NFC West champions into the next round of the conference playoffs with Monday's 27-9 win over the Minnesota Vikings, a game moved out of Southern California due to extensive wildfires in the Los Angeles area.

Despite playing a designated home game nearly 400 miles away at the Arizona Cardinals' venue of State Farm Stadium, the fourth-seeded Rams excelled on both sides of the ball to set up a matchup with the NFC East champion Eagles in Philadelphia in Sunday's divisional round.

The defence was particularly superb, sacking Sam Darnold nine times and forcing Minnesota's quarterback into two turnovers, including a fumble that edge rusher Jared Verse returned 57 yards for a touchdown to help Los Angeles build a commanding 24-3 half-time lead.

Kyren Williams and Davis Allen each caught touchdown passes from Stafford, who completed a sharp 19 of 27 attempts for 209 yards without a turnover.

Darnold managed 245 passing yards with a third-quarter touchdown connection with T.J. Hockenson, but was under siege most of the night as the Vikings' campaign came to a sudden end after tying for the NFC's second-best record with a 14-3 regular season.

The @RamsNFL defense racked up NINE sacks to tie an #NFLPlayoffs record!pic.twitter.com/CADCneZ0Er

— NFL (@NFL) January 14, 2025

Stafford and the Rams quickly assumed control by marching 70 yards in seven plays on the game's opening drive, which ended with Williams' 5-yard touchdown catch less than five minutes in. After forcing a three-and-out on Minnesota's first possession, Los Angeles extended the margin to 10-0 when Joshua Karty's first-quarter field goal capped an eight-play series.

Darnold's 22-yard pass to Justin Jefferson put the Vikings in range for Will Reichard's 34-yard field goal that trimmed the deficit early in the second quarter. Minnesota's next two drives ended with giveaways, however, as the Rams went further ahead on the strength of their defence.

Ahkello Witherspoon sacked Darnold later in the second quarter to force a fumble that Verse scooped up and raced untouched into the end zone for a 17-3 advantage. Darnold was sacked again on the Vikings' next series, this time on fourth down to give Los Angeles the ball inside the Minnesota 40-yard line. 

The Rams needed just five plays to reach the end zone again, this time on Stafford's 13-yard pass to Allen with 15 seconds left in the first half that increased the lead to 24-3.