Winners and losers: 5 takeaways from Vikings loss to Rams in Week 8

Coming off a heartbreaking defeat to the Detroit Lions this past Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings dropped their second straight on Thursday night, taking a 30-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

The Vikings' offense looked great early on, scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions. But over the final three quarters, Sam Darnold and Co. couldn't get much going, putting up just six points over the final 45 minutes. But that tends to happen when a team only converts on third down 28.6 percent of the time.

As for the Minnesota defense, Brian Flores' unit couldn't do much to stop the Rams' offense. With both Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua back in the mix, Matthew Stafford had his way with the Vikings' secondary, which we'll get to in just a moment.

This loss, of course, comes with some controversy, as officials missed a penalty on Rams linebacker Byron Young, who clearly grabbed Darnold's facemask on the safety sack that wrapped up the game for Los Angeles late in the fourth quarter. There's obviously no guarantee that the Vikings would have marched down the field to tie the game, but they should have at least had that chance.

But there's nothing that can be done about it now, so let's have a look at the winners and losers from the Vikings' Week 8 loss to the Rams.

Loser: The Vikings' secondary

Even with the most interceptions in the league, the Vikings' defense has struggled all season long against the pass, and Thursday night was no different.

It might not be fair to put all the blame on the secondary, as the Minnesota pass rush wasn't great either, but the secondary got smoked all night long.

Not having played since Week 1, Puka Nacua returned and had seven catches for 106 yards. Not having played since Week 2, Cooper Kupp returned and had five catches for 51 yards, one of which resulted in a touchdown.

In total, the Vikings allowed Stafford to complete 25 of 34 passes for 279 yards and four touchdowns. In addition to his TD pass to Kupp, Stafford also had a pair of scoring strikes to Demarcus Robinson and one to running back Kyren Williams.

Sure, Minnesota notched its league-leading 12th interception of the year as Byron Murphy Jr. picked off Stafford in the third quarter, which ultimately led to the Vikings taking a 17-14 lead.

But something has to change here. Including Thursday night's loss, the Vikings are now giving up 263.0 pass yards per game, the third-most in the NFL. Trading for some secondary help ahead of the November 5 deadline wouldn't be a bad idea.

Loser: Christian Darrisaw

This designation has nothing to do with how Christian Darrisaw performed against the Rams on Thursday night. This is simply to reflect the knee injury the dynamic left tackle sustained late in the first half.

With roughly half a minute to go in the second quarter, the Vikings were backed up against their own goal line and were forced to run a play because a kneeldown would have resulted in a safety.

As such, a running play was called for Aaron Jones, who was tackled by Rams safety Jaylen McCollough, whose momentum knocked him into Darrisaw's knees, the left taking the most punishment.

Minnesota head coach Kevin O'Connell had no update following the game, but the word is that Darrisaw will undergo an MRI at some point on Friday.

Winner: Sam Darnold

After having to listen to the ridiculous rumors that the Vikings were considering trading him for Stafford, Sam Darnold went out and played a solid game against Los Angeles.

He wasn't perfect by any stretch, but, overall, he performed nicely, completing 72% of his passes for 240 yards with two touchdowns. This was also the first game in his last four that Darnold didn't throw an interception.

Again, it would have been nice to see him attempt a game-tying drive, but that safety on the blatant facemask penalty negated that. Hopefully, this performance will prove that, barring any injury, of course, the Vikings will not be making any changes at quarterback this season.

Winner: Justin Jefferson

Justin Jefferson simply did Justin Jefferson things against the Rams on Thursday night, catching eight passes for 115 yards. He wasn't, however, the recipient of either of Darnold's two touchdown passes, which went to Josh Oliver and Trent Sherfield.

Nevertheless, it was a strong night for Jefferson, who surpassed the century mark for the first time since his 133-yard effort against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 2.

The three-time Pro Bowler is now averaging 92.3 receiving yards per game, good for second in the NFL behind only the Houston Texans' Nico Collins.

Winner: Will Reichard

Until Will Reichard misses a kick, we're going to keep putting him as a winner on every list we do as this season rolls along.

Thursday night certainly wasn't the most difficult game the rookie has had to endure, as his longest attempt of the night was the 35-yard field goal he made early in the fourth quarter. He also made a 23-yarder and both of his extra-point attempts.

Reichard is now 20-for-20 on extra points and 14-for-14 on field goals for the season. He's one of just three kickers yet to miss in 2024, the others being Nick Folk of the Tennessee Titans and Matt Prater of the Arizona Cardinals.