• Puka Nacua shines in his return: The Los Angeles Rams star wide receiver was busy counting the field but made the most of his snaps for a 100-yard performance.

• The elite fantasy options did not disappoint: Both Justin Jefferson And Kyren Williams is among our top seven rest of the season standingsand both finished with over 100 yards in this match.

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Minnesota Vikings @ Los Angeles Rams

Puka Nacua And Kuiper Kupp yield: Both star Rams wide receivers returned from injuries that kept both sidelined for more than a month.

Kupp was a limited participant in practice last week and looked close to ready to play. He was a full participant this week, so he was expected to be the clear lead receiver. Nacua’s practice window opened on Tuesday. He was a limited participant in training and it was a surprise that he was activated for this match.

Kupp had a small number of snaps and Nacua a larger number, but the Rams made it a point to get Nacua the ball early. Three of the first four passes all went to Nacua, and he remained the focal point of the passing game for the rest of the game. He was targeted on 40.9% of his routes, which was a career high for him in a game. This was the third time in his career he finished with at least 4.8 yards per route.

Kupp had several goals, but was not as effective. At least he caught a touchdown pass to save everyone who trusted him in fantasy leagues this week. Now that the Rams have been given more time before their next game, we can expect both players to play a higher percentage of Los Angeles’ offensive snaps next week. Both are back as starters.

Demarcus Robinson remained the Rams’ third wide receiver. He was their only clear X receiver last season. He remained in that role while Kupp and Nacua were injured and remained in that role for this match. Tutu Atwel was Robinson’s backup last year, in Week 1 and this game. While Kupp and Nacua were away, Atwell moved on to play more of Nacua’s role. Tyler Johnson was the backup to Nacua and Kupp in this match.

Jordan Whittington missed this week due to a shoulder injury. Once he returns, he will replace Johnson or join him as backup to Nacua and Kupp. The only reason to keep Atwell or Whittington in fantasy leagues is the possibility of Kupp being traded. They could be released once the trade deadline passes and Kupp is still on the Rams.

Robinson scored two touchdowns in this game, but they were his only two catches. He may remain on the waiver wire despite his 17.5 PPR points, as his target share will remain low as it has been all season.

The Vikings rely heavily on Aaron Jones: The Vikings lead played in 92% of offensive snaps, marking a new career high.

Early in the season, Jones’ role in the Vikings’ running back rotation was very consistent, playing 55–61% of Minnesota’s offensive snaps. Ty Chandler played 35% and CJ Ham took the rest in third-down situations.

In Week 4, Jones’ playing time shot up to 82% of Minnesota’s offensive snaps, but this wasn’t alarming at the time because he was playing against his former team in his former stadium. He suffered an injury early in week 5. When he returned in Week 7 after the Vikings’ bye week, he played 72% of the snaps, making it seem like his expanded role could be here to stay.

This week his role went to a new extreme. He didn’t play on the third drive of the game, which was a three-and-out, but outside of that he was consistently on the field outside of a third-and-21. He failed to break a long run in this match, but he hit the ball more than twenty times. He could be a buy-low candidate because there are very few running backs playing as much as Jones right now. The Vikings have a better than average schedule for running backs through the rest of the season.

Various comments

• Vikings tight end TJ Hockenson has not been activated from the physically unable to perform list for this game. He was limited in training all week. He must be placed on the active 53-man roster by Friday or he will not be eligible to play this season. Robert Tonyan was activated from the practice squad and was the third tight end for Minnesota in this game.
• Vikings running back Myles Gaskin was a healthy inactive person for the second week in a row, while Cam Akers was the third running back. It wouldn’t be surprising if Gaskin is released once they need a roster spot at another position.
• The Rams have acquired a tight end Davis Allen more involved in recent weeks. He set a season high in offensive snaps last week with 12, and he broke that season high Thursday night before the fourth quarter started. These are usually in two tight end sets and run blocking situations, so this has minimal impact Colby Parkinson.

Table notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. These plays have been removed from the other three statistics.
• Objectives may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be the result of an obviously thrown pass, where the NFL could give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data does not.
• Carries are only possible on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles do not count toward the total number of carries in the game.