Minnesota Vikings 20-30 Los Angeles Rams: Matthew Stafford stars with four touchdown passes on Puka Nacua’s return

Star receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua returned from injury and quarterback Matthew Stafford played a key role as the Los Angeles Rams secured a 30-20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night.

Kupp caught a touchdown pass and Nacua had 106 yards receiving in their returns to the line-up, while Stafford passed for 279 yards – including four touchdowns – during their impressive victory.

Demarcus Robinson caught two touchdown passes from Stafford for the Rams (3-4), who won back-to-back games for the first time this season with 386 yards from an offense that looked exponentially more dangerous with Kupp and Nacua back in the fold.

“They brought a lot of energy to our team, and a ton of confidence,” said Stafford, who had thrown just three touchdown passes in the Rams’ first six games combined. “It’s not only just the offense. I know the defense feels it too when those guys are out there making plays.”

After missing the previous five games, Nacua had seven catches while posting the eighth 100-yard game of his short career. Kupp returned from a four-game absence with five catches for 51 yards, including a 27-yard grab for a key first down late in the fourth quarter.

“It was just so much fun,” Kupp said. “Offensively, we were just able to find ways to keep the sticks moving. Guys were just doing their jobs, and it was pretty cool to see us going.”

Kyren Williams rushed for 97 yards and caught an early touchdown pass for the Rams. Robinson caught a 25-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter to put Los Angeles ahead and made a 10-yard touchdown catch with 6:17 to play for a 28-20 lead.

Byron Young then sacked Sam Darnold for a safety with 1:36 left, grabbing Darnold’s facemask on the play. Officials didn’t throw a flag, sealing the Rams’ second win in five days after going 1-4 before their bye.

“I believe in this group,” said coach Sean McVay, who became the successful coach by number of wins in Rams history with his 80th victory. “I saw resolve. I didn’t see a flinch. We’ve done a good job of getting ourselves back to where we wanted to be.”

Darnold passed for 240 yards for the Vikings (5-2), who followed up their first loss of the season with an ineffective defensive performance. Minnesota also lost starting left tackle Christian Darrisaw to a left knee injury late in the first half.

Justin Jefferson had eight receptions for 115 yards, while Josh Oliver and Trent Sherfield caught touchdown passes from Darnold. Minnesota was held to two field goals in the final three quarters.

“As an offense, we’ve got to just be more consistent,” Darnold said. “The facemask, it is what it is. I thought we could have done a lot to not put ourselves in the situation we were in.”

Stafford threw at least four touchdown passes for the 16th time in his career, including four with the Rams. The veteran also passed Dan Marino for ninth place in NFL history in total completions.

How to follow the 2024 NFL season

Make sure you tune in to Sky Sports NFL every Sunday – this week at 5pm – for the first game of our triple-header of live action. The evening’s entertainment also includes NFL Redzone action as hosted by Scott Hanson, as well as Sunday Night Football to round off the night.

Sky Sports will broadcast two exclusive live games every Sunday throughout the regular season in the 6pm and 9pm slots, while also showing every Thursday Night, Sunday Night and Monday Night match-up as well as the Thanksgiving and Christmas Day fixtures.

The Sky Sports NFL channel will meanwhile continue to show the usual NFL Network favourites, including Good Morning Football, Pro Football Talk and Total Access.

Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app – giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Stream The new EFL season, Test cricket and more top sport with NOW.