Will Vikings-Rams playoff game be cancelled due to LA wildfires? NFL reveals plan for NFC wild card round clash

The playoff game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Minnesota Vikings could be affected by external factors. The state of California is suffering from wildfires, and playing an NFL game in Los Angeles feels unattainable at the moment. But the league already has a contingency plan.

The NFC Wild Card game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Minnesota Vikings is set to happen at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. Five days from now, the league still hopes to host the game at the Rams' stadium, but if they are not able to go, then the matchup will be played at the State Farm Stadium.

The State Farm Stadium is the home of the Arizona Cardinals. The league has announced that is in contact with public officials, both the franchises involved and the NFL Players Association. A decision is expected to be reached by the end of the week.

The two teams have already played in the regular season. It happened in Week 8, and Minnesota, 5-1 before the game, suffered a huge upset, as Los Angeles had a 2-4 record before the contest. The game was also played in the SoFi Stadium, and Los Angeles won 30-20.

Even though the Vikings finished the season with a 14-3 record, much better than the 10-7 of their opponents, they'll play away from home as the wild card team, while the Rams have a higher seed due to their condition of division winners.

Will Rams play in the State Farm Stadium? Cardinals stadium has already hosted games from division rivals

This wouldn't be the first time that an NFC West team would play in the home of the Arizona Cardinals, their biggest rivals. The most recent case happened in 2020, when the San Francisco 49ers hosted three games there as the city of Santa Clara could not host games due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2003, the Cardinals also had their stadium used by another NFL team, but back in the day, Arizona used to play in the famous Sun Devil Stadium. Due to wildfires in San Diego, they hosted an MNF contest between the Miami Dolphins and the (then) San Diego Chargers.