The last time the Vikings played against the Rams, things looked quite different.

Minnesota hosted Los Angeles in a Week 16 tilt during the 2021 season, and several familiar faces were in the building at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell, Offensive Coordinator Wes Phillips, defensive line Coach Marcus Dixon, senior offensive assistant Chris O'Hara and assistant inside linebackers coach Thad Bogardus were all a part of the Rams coaching staff. O'Connell served as Los Angeles' offensive coordinator while Phillips was the tight ends coach and pass game coordinator. Dixon was the assistant defensive line coach, O'Hara was the offensive assistant and Bogardus was the team's assistant linebackers coach.

Minnesota wide receiver Brandon Powell, running back Cam Akers and tight end Johnny Mundt all suited up for the Rams that season while defensive lineman Jonah Williams (who is currently on his third stint with the Rams in five seasons after stints with the Vikings in 2021 (waived after a failed physical) and 2024 was a member of Los Angeles' practice squad.

The Rams defeated the Vikings 30-23 that day and clinched a playoff spot and would go on to earn a 23-20 victory on their home field over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI.

On Thursday, O'Connell, Phillips, O'Hara and Mundt will return to SoFi Stadium for the first time since winning that title game when the Vikings (5-1) take on the Rams (2-4) at 7:15 p.m. (CT). O'Connell will also be facing Rams leader Sean McVay for the first time as head coaches.

A few other current Vikings have connections to the Rams, as well. Running back Myles Gaskin played for Los Angeles last season, and wide receiver Trishton Jackson signed as an undrafted free agent in 2020, while Special Teams Coordinator Matt Daniels served as the assistant special teams coach for the Rams from 2018-2019.

The Vikings and Rams have met 47 times in their history, including seven postseason games, with Minnesota holding a 27-18-2 advantage in the all-time series. The Vikings have only won once in three meetings with the Rams (24-7 in 2017) since that franchise moved from St. Louis back to Los Angeles in 2016. L.A. also claimed a 38-31 victory in 2018.

Minnesota will not only look to bounce back this week from its first loss of the season, but also hope to snap a tough Thursday Night Football streak in the process.

Since the NFL began playing games on Thursday nights in 1978, Minnesota has won a Thursday evening road game just once — a 21-10 victory at Dallas on Oct. 26^th, 1978. The Vikings have dropped seven consecutive games in such situations (23-22 at Buffalo in 1982, 9-7 at Green Bay in 2006, 14-9 at New Orleans in 2010, 42-10 at Green Bay in 2014, 23-20 at Arizona in 2015, 38-31 at the Rams in 2018 and 34-28 at Philadelphia in 2023).

The Rams are 6-2 all-time in Thursday night games under McVay, which includes a loss to the Bills in the 2022 season opener.

Let's see who the experts are picking to win the game:

Vikings 27, Rams 17 – Pete Prisco, CBS Sports

The Vikings are coming off their first loss and the defense had a rough go of it against the Lions. The Rams dominated the Raiders offense last week, but this is a much-tougher challenge. Look for the Vikings to get back on track here on both sides of the ball. Vikings take it as Sam Darnold plays well.

Rams 23, Vikings 20 – John Breech, CBS Sports

On paper, the Vikings are definitely the better team in this game, but no one uses paper anymore, so that fact means nothing to me.

I only care about trends, and there are two trends telling me to pick the Rams to win this game. First, teams flying two time zones or more to the west for a Thursday game almost always lose. Since the return of Thursday Night Football in 2006, this has happened a total of 20 times and the Central/Eastern time zone team that flew west has gone 4-16 straight up and 4-14-2 ATS (And two of those four wins were by Aaron Rodgers while he was going through his MVP run with the Packers).

I have no idea why teams are so bad in this situation, but I have some theories. When you're playing on a Thursday, you only have 72 hours to recover from your Sunday game, and 3.5 of those hours are spent on a plane because you have to fly halfway across the country. Once you get off the plane, you then have to adjust to a new time zone.

…

Not only is it tough to turn around and play on a Thursday, but the Vikings have to do it after playing the Lions, which brings me to my second trend. No team has won a game this year the week after playing the Lions. Apparently, the Lions are beating up on teams so badly that it makes it impossible to win the following week. It doesn't matter whether a team wins or loses to the Lions, this trend only involves their next game after facing Detroit.

Here's a look at the Lions opponents so far in 2024:

Week 1: Rams (Lost 41-10 to Cardinals in Week 2)
Week 2: Buccaneers (Lost 26-7 to Broncos in Week 3 – Tampa Bay was favored by 6)
Week 3: Cardinals (Lost 42-14 to Commanders in Week 4 – Arizona was favored by 3.5)
Week 4: Seahawks (Lost 29-20 to Giants in Week 5 – Seattle was favored by 7)
Week 5: Detroit's bye week
Week 6: Cowboys (Got a bye in Week 7, face the 49ers in Week 8)
Week 7: Vikings (Playing the Rams in Week 8)

That's four teams that have gone a combined 0-4 after facing the Lions, and three of the teams were favored to win. Also, the four losses were by an average of 21.8 points per game. At this point, I couldn't even pick the Vikings if I wanted to. And let's not forget, the Rams will likely be getting Cooper Kupp back, which should provide a huge boost for the offense.

Vikings 28, Rams 18 – Bill Bender, Sporting News

The Vikings allowed a season-high 144 rushing yards in Week 7 against Detroit, and the Rams will try to run the ball with Kyren Williams. Minnesota should be able to force a few turnovers, and Sam Darnold has a 119.3 passer rating in two road starts. Look for the California native to throw multiple TDs in a bounce-back win for Minnesota.

Vikings 24, Rams 20 – Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News

The Vikings defense did its best to recover from having its toughest game of the season with a big play, but they need to be wary of the blitz again given how well Matthew Stafford does against it. He also has Cooper Kupp (ankle) ready to return to help. Sam Darnold and Justin Jefferson, however, can have more success together for former Sean McVay assistant Kevin O'Connell, and Brian Flores' unit will still force a key takeaway or two late.

Vikings 30, Rams 17 – Staff, Bleacher Report

The Minnesota Vikings will look to shake off their first loss of the season, which also marked the first time they didn't cover ATS.

The Los Angeles Rams may already see the writing on the wall regarding their short-term outlook. They face a steep climb to get back into the playoff picture.

…

This week, [Cooper] Kupp has logged full practices and is set to return from an ankle injury that sidelined him for four games.

Kupp will boost the Rams offense, though Vikings lead skipper Kevin O'Connell is from Sean McVay's coaching tree. So, these teams will have a bit of a chess match Thursday night.

[Bleacher Report editor Ian] Hanford thinks McVay will get over on one of his disciples in this scenario.

"The Vikings are coming off a loss in Week 7, and the Rams have been a pretty rough product overall. But this could be Matthew Stafford and Kupp's last hurrah together with the WR swirling in trade rumors, and the Vikings have been a pass funnel all season," Hanford said.

"Sean McVay has a blueprint to follow offensively, as the Vikings have allowed 29-plus points in two of their last three games. These are the things I'm telling myself to lean into the next point.

"Since 2006, the team flying west from the Central or Eastern time zones is 4-16 straight up and 4-14-2 against the spread in Thursday night games. That's a big sample size, and I'm buying into it. The Vikings win, but Stafford and Kupp find some magic to keep this one close."

5 of 6 experts pick the Vikings, The MMQB

10 of 11 experts pick the Vikings, ESPN

5 of 8 experts pick the Vikings, Bleacher Report

7 of 8 experts pick the Vikings, The Athletic