Minnesota Vikings vs Los Angeles Rams: Box score, player stats and summary feat. Justin Jefferson, Cooper Kupp

The Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams came into Thursday's game with different objectives. For Minnesota, which had its first loss last week, the goal was to get back to winning ways and lay down a marker for NFC North leaders, the Detroit Lions. For Los Angeles, it was about getting to a 3-4 record, which would put it on par with the Cardinals and 49ers in the NFC West.

With Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp back, the hope for the Rams was to show what their team could accomplish at full strength. But standing against them was Minnesota coach Kevin O'Connell, who was the offensive coordinator for the Rams when they won the Super Bowl a few years back.

With so much to look forward to, this is how the action went down:

Vikings vs. Rams box scores

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Vikings	14	0	3	3	20
Rams	7	7	7	9	30

Vikings Box Score

Passing

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	SACKS	RTG
Sam Darnold	18/25	240	9.6	2	0	3-28	128.8

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Aaron Jones	19	58	3.1	0	9
Sam Darnold	3	6	2	0	5
Team	22	64	2.9	0	9

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	TGTS
Justin Jefferson	8	115	14.4	0	27	9
Aaron Jones	2	37	18.5	0	25	2
Josh Oliver	2	30	15	1	25	2
Jordan Addison	2	22	11	0	14	3
Jalen Nailor	2	16	8	0	9	4
Trent Sherfield Sr.	1	10	10	1	10	1
Johnny Mundt	1	10	10	0	10	2
Team	18	240	13.3	2	27	23

Defense

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HTS	TD	INT
Ivan Pace Jr.	13	7	0	1	0	1	0	0
Harrison Smith	8	6	0	1	0	0	0	0
Andrew Van Ginkel	7	4	0	2	0	1	0	0
Camryn Bynum	7	3	0	0	1	0	0	0
Josh Metellus	7	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Stephon Gilmore	5	4	0	0	1	0	0	0
Byron Murphy Jr.	4	4	0	1	2	0	0	1
Pat Jones II	4	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Harrison Phillips	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jonathan Bullard	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jonathan Greenard	3	1	0	1	1	0	0	0
Kamu Grugier-Hill	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Trent Sherfield Sr.	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Taki Taimani	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Shaquill Griffin	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jerry Tillery	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jalen Redmond	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Team	71	40	0	6	5	2	0	0

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Will Reichard	2/2	100	35	2/2	8

Rams Box Score

Passing

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	SACKS	RTG
Matthew Stafford	25/34	279	8.2	4	1	0-0	124.5

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Kyren Williams	23	97	4.2	0	17
Blake Corum	4	9	2.3	0	5
Puka Nacua	2	5	2.5	0	7
Matthew Stafford	3	-4	-1.3	0	-1
Team	32	107	3.3	0	17

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	TGTS
Puka Nacua	7	106	15.1	0	21	9
Cooper Kupp	5	51	10.2	1	27	8
Demarcus Robinson	2	35	17.5	2	25	3
Kyren Williams	5	19	3.8	1	7	7
Hunter Long	1	18	18	0	18	1
Tutu Atwell	1	18	18	0	18	2
Colby Parkinson	2	17	8.5	0	9	2
Blake Corum	1	9	9	0	9	1
Tyler Johnson	1	6	6	0	6	1
Team	25	279	11.2	4	27	34

Defense

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HTS	TD
Kobie Turner	6	3	0	1	0	0	0
Christian Rozeboom	6	2	0	0	0	0	0
Darious Williams	5	5	0	1	0	0	0
Cobie Durant	5	5	0	0	0	0	0
Omar Speights	4	3	0	0	0	0	0
Michael Hoecht	4	2	0.5	0	0	2	0
Bobby Brown III	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jared Verse	3	1	1.5	1	0	3	0
Braden Fiske	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
Jaylen McCollough	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
Tyler Davis	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
Byron Young	2	1	1	1	0	1	0
Kamren Curl	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
Quentin Lake	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
Ahkello Witherspoon	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jacob Hummel	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Xavier Smith	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jonah Williams	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kamren Kinchens	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Team	54	33	3	4	0	6	0

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Joshua Karty	0/0	0	0	4/4	4

Vikings vs. Rams game summary

The Vikings and Rams played a fabulous game that was initially dominated by the offensive units before the defenses took over.

Minnesota began strongly and scored a touchdown on its first drive with Sam Darnold passing to tight end Josh Oliver. Not to be outdone, Matthew Stafford responded on Los Angeles' first offensive foray with a touchdown pass to running back Kyren Williams.

Markers had been laid and the Vikings quarterback was not one to shy away as he hit back immediately with another touchdown, this time finding Trent Sherfield in the endzone.

After the end-to-end action of the first quarter, the fun continued in the second as the Rams scored again to bring the scores level at 14-14. They were helped in some crucial situations by Minnesota penalties. Matthew Stafford made them pay with Cooper Kupp getting in on the action on his return from injury.

The first four drives led to touchdowns, but the next four plays were the complete opposite. The defenses stepped up after the ease with which they had been carved apart earlier and each team forced the other to punt on successive drives to end the half. But it was towards the end of the first half that Minnesota suffered a major blow. Left tackle Christian Darrisaw was injured and that affected the rhythm of the Vikings offense going into the second half.

The Rams began the second half with the ball but Stafford's pass was intercepted by Byron Murphy to give the ball back to Minnesota. Sam Darnold connected on a deep pass to Justin Jefferson to get them in the red zone but they could only get a field goal to go 17-14 ahead. It would prove to be a costly missed opportunity as Los Angeles scored a touchdown on the next drive with Demarcus Robinson getting his first of the night.

The Vikings scored a field goal again on their next drive to make the score 21-20 at the beginning of the fourth quarter but the following possession by the Rams proved to be crucial. Matthew Stafford connected with Demarcus Robinson for the second time on the night to give Los Angeles a 28-20 lead.

Successive punts by both teams meant that the Vikings had a chance to draw level with a little more than a minute remaining. However, Sam Darnold could not escape the pressure and gave up a safety to make the final score 30-20 in favor of the Rams. The referees missed a clear facemask on the quarterback.

It was that kind of a night for Minnesota, who are now 5-2 and on a two-game losing streak. The Rams improved to 3-4 and look like a clear challenger in the NFC West.