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I viewed the Rams as a sleeper heading into the playoffs with a young, aggressive front, a top coach and a Hall of Fame level quarterback, so I was pleased to see them roll last night. The other issue I had was I traded away Sam Darnold in my QB-flex (we’re adding the position for 2025) RotoWire Dynasty League for Aaron Rodgers (because Darnold and Patrick Mahomes had the same bye), and I was aghast to see Darnold go crazy in the second half of the year. That and my long-standing (and thus-far validated) view that then Giants GM (widely hated by midwit stat dorks) Dave “The Gettlechad” Gettleman made the right pick with Saquon Barkley at 1.2 over Darnold. (Obviously Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson would have been much better picks, but most of those turbo-nerds thought they were projects and would have surely gone with Darnold (or maybe even Josh Rosen.) So to see Darnold have such a great year, though so did Saquon, albeit at a lesser position, was disconcerting. If the Vikings win in Detroit last week and make a Super Bowl, let alone win it, so much of my Darnold mockery is undone. (Realize Darnold is seven-years into his career on a fourth team, but still.) But the Darnold of the Jets I know and love reared his head the last two weeks, and especially in this game. Even the announcers were killing him for holding the ball so long it was like the spirit of Danny Dimes was playing through him. So this result was gratifying both for the Dynasty League — Darnold is no longer a locked-in starter next year wherever he winds up, and even if he gets the shot, the leash will be much shorter, and the environment will be much worse — and also the Barkley-Darnold comparison. I would love to see the Eagles win the Super Bowl on Barkley’s back, as he runs for 200 yards and gets the game MVP. (I actually think the Eagles might lose this week to the Rams, but whatever.) It might sound petty to be cheering on Darnold’s demise for a $50 entry fee league and an old argument only I still care about, but NFL football is a zero-sum game. If Darnold can’t hack it someone else gets a shot. If he can hack it, someone else is blocked. It’s not better or worse for it to be Darnold or someone else. And Darnold played well enough this year, he’ll almost certainly get another shot even if he isn’t viewed as the Vikings franchise going forward. It also makes you wonder how much of Kirk Cousins was the favorable environment too. - Stafford is as good a pocket passer as anyone in the league. He knows when to get rid of it, he checks it down when he needs to and he has good awareness in the pocket. It would be awfully rough if the Rams make it to Detroit for the conference title game, and Stafford takes down the best team they’ve ever had. - The Rams really took Justin Jefferson out of the game. It was a smart gameplan against the Vikings, but getting so much pressure also helped, even if they got a big assist from Darnold. - The Vikings ran the ball too much in the second half. I get it with the pass rush getting after Darnold, but every time they handed it to Aaron Jones it was time off the clock they couldn’t afford. - The Rams kept mixing in pass plays even with a big lead. I like this — they didn’t go into a shell, and getting first downs runs clock better than three-and-outs. - Remember the Rams also beat the Bills this year. Playing in Philly will be tough conditions, and the Eagles defense is good, but this is a very live dog.