The 2024 regular season ends and the playoffs begin this weekend. Six playoff games will be played between Saturday and Monday. That will reduce the field to a total of eight teams in the divisional round. On Monday, the Minnesota Vikings were scheduled to face the Los Angeles Rams.
But wildfires swept through California this week, prompting the league to proceed with the game “in the interest of public safety.” The Vikings vs. Rams playoff game will be played at Cardinals Stadium in Arizona. Kickoff will take place at the scheduled time. The NFL has had to make some adjustments, but it’s a smart decision to keep players, coaches and fans safe.
Vikings vs. Rams game moved to Arizona due to wildfires in LA.
BREAKING NEWS: NFL announces that in the interest of public safety, the Monday night, January 13th football wild card game between the Rams and Vikings will be moved from Inglewood, California to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, with the Rams playing the Vikings the same night. I did it. 8 PM ET pic.twitter.com/cmA6pTfPFL
— ESPN (@espn) January 10, 2025
On Thursday, the NFL announced that the Vikings vs. Rams playoff game will be moved to Arizona. Wildfires are spiraling out of control in Los Angeles this week. The league has been monitoring the situation since Monday and felt it was in everyone’s best interest to move the game to State Farm Stadium. Hours before the NFL announced this, another fire broke out in an area a few miles from the Rams’ training complex. As a result, media availability was canceled for Thursday.
The Rams are scheduled to travel to Arizona on Friday and hold practice at the Cardinals’ facility on Saturday. Los Angeles won the NFC South in 2024 and was scheduled to host a playoff game. The wildfires in LA have changed things, but the Rams could still make the playoffs. On Monday they will face the 14-3 Vikings, who had a chance to be the #1 seed in Week 18. However, despite their loss to the Lions, they are still a major threat in the NFC. Monday night will mark Sam Darnold’s first career start in a playoff game. On the other hand, Matthew Stafford is making his 18th career playoff start. The Vikings are favored (-2.5) via BetOnline’s odds.
Note: Odds via BetOnline. Accurate as of January 10, 2025
