The race to be Super Bowl LIX champion is on. The wild-card round of the NFL playoffs ends on "Monday Night Football" with a clash between the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams. This marks the eighth playoff meeting between the two teams, the first since the 1999 NFC divisional round. (The Rams defeated the Vikings 49-37 en route to winning Super Bowl XXXIV.) Minnesota is 5-2 all time against the Rams in the playoffs.
Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell was on the Rams staff that won Super Bowl LVI as the offensive coordinator under head coach Sean McVay. O'Connell is the second former offensive or defensive coordinator to face the head coach he won a Super Bowl with in a playoff game since 2000. Then-Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn defeated his former boss, Pete Carroll, and the Seattle Seahawks in the 2016 divisional round.
Here are key facts about the "Monday Night Football" wild-card game:
How can fans watch?
*All times Eastern
"Monday Night Countdown" - 6 p.m. on ESPN and ESPN+
NFC wild-card: Vikings at Rams - 8 p.m. on ESPN/ABC/ESPN+
"NFL Wild Card with Peyton and Eli" - 8 p.m. on ESPN2 and ESPN+
Fans can catch all the action in the NFL streaming hub.
Note: In a statement Wednesday, the NFL said it continues to prepare for the game to be played at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, but if it had to be moved due to wildfires across Los Angeles, it would take place Monday night at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, the home of the Arizona Cardinals.
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