Rams storm past Vikes

LOS ANGELES — Even with as much as the Vikings had working against them Thursday night, what happened to them against the Rams defied convention, for a defense that’s been fashioned into one of the NFL’s best under Mike Zimmer’s watchful gaze.

A year ago, the Vikings had shut down the Rams’ high-flying offense, delivering one of its signature performances in a 17-point victory that gave the Vikings the inside track on a first-round bye. On Thursday night in the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, it was the Rams who landed the haymakers in a 38-31 victory.

Since 2006, teams traveling two or more time zones west were 13-30 in night games in the Pacific Time zone, posting a 0-6 record on Thursday nights. The Vikings traveled to Los Angeles to face the NFC’s only undefeated team without defensive end Everson Griffen. Nothing about their task was enviable. Still, the way the Rams carved up the Vikings’ defense — the league’s topranked unit from a year ago — was startling to watch. Jared Goff had thrown five touchdown passes by the end of the third quarter.