NFL moves Vikings-Rams playoff tilt to Arizona due to fires - ESPN

The NFL has moved Monday's wild-card playoff game between the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams to Arizona, it announced Thursday night, saying the decision was made in the interest of public safety as wildfires continue to ravage Southern California.

The game was originally scheduled to take place at Inglewood's SoFi Stadium in Inglewood at 8 p.m. on Monday. It now will be played at Glendale's State Farm Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals, at the same time Monday.

The league had said earlier this week that Arizona would be the contingency plan if Monday's game had to be moved. In a statement Thursday, it said it came to the decision to go ahead with that move after «consultation with public officials, the participating clubs and the NFLPA.»

A few hours earlier, another fire broke out in an area several miles from the Rams' training complex in the Woodland Hills neighborhood, leading the team to cancel its scheduled player media availability.

The league's other Los Angeles-based team, the Chargers, also are readying for a playoff game this weekend, although they play on the road against the Houston Texans on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Both the Rams and Chargers practiced outdoors Thursday.

Smoke was visible from the field at the Rams team facility, and coach Sean McVay said while players, coaches and staff have been affected by the fires, «fortunately to my knowledge, nobody has been injured. And for that we're grateful.»

The Chargers held their final practice ahead of Saturday's game. The scene was dystopian at their facility in El Segundo: The skies were burnt orange, ashes flew around the field and many players, including outside linebacker Khalil Mack, tackle Joe Alt and quarterback Taylor Heinicke, wore