Vikings vs. Rams Fantasy Football Takeaways: Matthew Stafford returns to relevance in Week 8

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For several weeks, the Rams have been a garage band, scrounging for fill-ins and replacements. Thursday against the Vikings, Sean McVay finally had his real band back together, and it was glorious.

The Rams scored a 30-20 victory over Minnesota and the big story was Puka Nacua (knee) and Cooper Kupp (ankle) returning from injuries. Both players were used as part-time players — Kupp ran 42 of 71 snaps, while Nacua logged 42 reps — but they made do with those workloads. Nacua was involved from the jump, a 7-106-0 line on nine targets, while Kupp posted a 5-51-1 line on eight looks.

The Rams are now 3-4 and just one game back of Seattle in a jumbled NFC West. It’s anyone’s division. When Los Angeles was 1-4, trade talk made sense. You can forget it now.

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✅ With Nacua and Kupp back, Matthew Stafford returns to fantasy relevance

Stafford threw for 279 yards and four touchdowns Thursday — his first game with multiple scoring tosses this year — and collected 21.76 fantasy points, easily his best score of the season. Next week’s showdown at Seattle will be a fascinating game.

👑 Kyren Williams continues to be fantasy royalty

Williams finished the day with 28 touches, 116 total yards and a score (for the 10th-straight game dating back to last season). He should receive his mail in the end zone. Demarcus Robinson is generally a fantasy afterthought with Kupp and Nacua back, but somehow he scored twice on three targets.

🫡 Sam Darnold had two early scoring passes and scored 16.2 fantasy points, his fifth game in the 16-20 range this year

That’s who he is, a useful player but not a transformative one. An 8-115-0 line for Justin Jefferson is just another day at the office, and Aaron Jones had a credible 95 total yards on 21 touches, though he didn’t score. The Vikings should move the ball well against Indianapolis next week.