As wildfires ravaged Southern California, the Los Angeles Rams became playoff nomads, forced to move their postseason home game nearly 400 miles away.
No matter that they were playing in Glendale, Arizona, it was apparent early Monday night they were playing for their city.
It showed from the start, when Matthew Stafford marched the offense to an emphatic opening score, to the end of a 27-9 wild-card win for the Rams over the Minnesota Vikings.
It's a triumph head coach Sean McVay and his bunch hope can give their city something to smile about, if only for an evening, during a harrowing disaster.
"With everything that's going on with our community, everything that these guys have gone through, I thought they epitomized and represented the city the right way," McVay told reporters in his opening statements after the franchise's first playoff win since Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium, where Monday's game was originally supposed to be played. "You talk about sports offering a platform for people to offer a little bit of temporary relief, and I thought the way our team competed tonight was what it looked like. To stay connected, to stay together, just the fight and resilience and all the different things that are great traits this team has really built through the challenges that they've gone through over the course of this season. I'm really proud of them. I'm excited to be able to move forward."
As the Southland braces for more high winds, the fourth-seeded Rams will move forward to the Divisional Round, where they'll face the host and second-seeded Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
They'll attempt to give their beleaguered fan base more to cheer about, even as fires still rage, winds still roar and families still search for answers on how and when they can rebuild.
For the Rams on Monday, they used their fanbase as encouragement while endeavoring to inspire their supporters just the same.
"We knew we weren't just playing for us," said Stafford, who was 19 of 27 for 209 yards and a pair of touchdown passes, including a 5-yarder to Kyren Williams that culminated a seven-play, 70-yard opening drive. "We were playing for people back home who needed something to watch and enjoy."
With winds characterized as potentially life-threatening beginning to blow through Southern California last Tuesday, a fire in Pacific Palisades began an overwhelming rash of blazes. Following the Pacific Palisades fire, the Eaton Fire (Altadena/Pasadena) and Hurst Fire (Sylmar) sparked up. Others engulfed the Southland, as well, including the Kenneth Fire.
As the NFL monitored the blazes and potentially changing the Rams' home venue to the Arizona Cardinals' home field, McVay spoke to reporters Thursday and said he believed the game would stay put at SoFi. Not long after, smoke could be seen from the team's practice facility in Woodland Hills, the aforementioned Kenneth Fire having started.
Not long after, the league switched the site.
The Rams brought their families, even their pets, along as they changed their plans, their home field and aimed to keep their focus on winning a playoff game during most trying times.
"We had the city on our back this week," Rams defensive lineman Kobie Turner, who had two of L.A.'s nine sacks on Monday, told NFL Network's Bridget Condon. "I'm glad we were able to pick up a dub. McVay has been talking to us all week about the fact how we are built for this. Everything that we've gone through from this season up 'til now has prepared us for this exact moment."
Any concerns of lost focus were quickly expunged on Monday.
Following Stafford and the Rams' opening salvo, the L.A. defense smothered Sam Darnold and the Vikings offense. Los Angeles built a 24-3 halftime lead and truly had the game salted away with 30 minutes left to play.
"They had a look in their eye," McVay said. "They had a focus. The right kind of urgency and enjoyment that we try to strike that perfect balance. I was just proud of them. I think you can feel it. You can feel it in warmups. There was just an aura."
The Rams took the field with L.A. in their hearts and emblazoned on their LAFD (Los Angeles Fire Department) shirts and hats in pregame workouts and postgame interviews. They'll also be off game-worn gear to support American Red Cross.
Following their triumph in Arizona, the Rams are headed home.
They'll find an L.A. area that has more fierce winds on the way after fires have already destroyed thousands of residences and killed at least 24 people, according to .
They'll have the same mission ahead against the Eagles as they did the Vikings: win and advance, and give their fans a reason for happiness amid a time of immense sadness.
"For everybody, you guys, [who] are all going back home know it's been a difficult week," Stafford said. "Just proud of this group and happy that we can come out and play the way we did tonight. Give the people back home something to cheer about for a little bit."
