ck and Sean McVay was a precocious offensive coordinator when they got together in Washington.After they collaborated on two tremendously productive seasons Laquon Treadwell Jersey , the partnership led to big things for both men: McVay became the NFL’s youngest head coach in Los Angeles, and Cousins got an $84 million contract in Minnesota.“I’m very grateful for having crossed paths with him,” Cousins said. “And I’m always rooting for him. But certainly, though, we want to get the ‘W’ this week.”Indeed, they’re getting back together Thursday night in a compelling early season NFC showdown between McVay’s Rams (3-0) and Cousins’ Vikings (1-1-1).And both say they wouldn’t be there under the Coliseum lights without the other.“I feel fortunate to have worked with Kirk,” McVay said.“Sometimes you hear people talk about not having the strongest arm or whatever, (but) I’m not sure what film they’re watching,” McVay added.“He can make every single throw. I think he has the ability to speed it up with excellent twitch. He can change the launch point. So you’re not limited in any way that you can utilize him. And I couldn’t be happier for Kirk, and I’ll be rooting for him the rest of the year after Thursday night.”Their meeting will be an interesting barometer for both teams’ early season fortunes.The Rams have been largely outstanding during their unbeaten start to a season that has picked up right where McVay’s first team left off.But coach Mike Zimmer’s Vikings defense gave perhaps the most impressive performance of last season against the high-octane Rams, who managed only one early touchdown from Todd Gurley in a 24-7 loss at Minnesota.“We didn’t run the ball as well as we had in other games against this defense,” said Aaron Kromer, the Rams’ running game coordinator. “They’re a stout defense. They’re built to stop the run. That’s their No. 1 goal. … We have to do a much better job. I think we’re a lot smarter football team than we were in the past Ben Gedeon Jersey , so I hope that shows on Thursday night.”More things to watch:WEEKNIGHT PARTYThe Rams realize Thursday afternoon isn’t an ideal time to brave LA traffic for a football game at a stadium undergoing renovation that has severely curtailed its parking and tailgating.So they’re trying to make this important NFC game into a civic duty: McVay sent out a funny “memo” through newspapers and social media to all employers in Los Angeles, urging them to allow their employees to leave work early so they can head downtown for the 5:20 p.m. local start time — which he says is the “typical bedtime” of his 71-year-old defensive coordinator, Wade Phillips. They also got Vanessa Hudgens to sing the national anthem, while Compton rapper YG will perform in the second quarter.EARLY DEPARTUREThe Vikings flew to Los Angeles on Tuesday evening, hoping to better acclimate to the two-time-zone change. The Vikings are 1-5 in Thursday night road games, winning only at Dallas in 1978. Traveling cross-country to play one of the NFL’s best teams with three days of rest is a daunting task.“Yeah, it’s a problem,” coach Mike Zimmer said. “We haven’t had a home game on a short week since I’ve been here in five years. But you play the schedule how it is.”NOT A FANThe Rams are also unenthused about their short-week schedule, although they’re grateful they got to stay home for it. McVay joked that he’s running on “maybe two” hours of sleep per night. Last weekend, Gurley summed up many players’ feelings about Thursday football: “It’s the dumbest thing ever.”GOING WITHOUT GRIFFENThe Vikings will play without defensive end Everson Griffen, a captain and three-time Pro Bowl pick. The former USC star won’t make his Coliseum return while he is sidelined indefinitely for treatment of mental illness following a pattern of erratic and threatening behavior. With players, coaches and staff concerned about Griffen’s well-being, the show must go on. Stephen Weatherly had his first career sack against the Bills while starting in place of Griffen.INJURED CORNERSThe Rams have bigger problems than a late start time: Their star-studded defense is suddenly short-handed after former Pro Bowl cornerbacks Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters both incurred injuries in last week’s win over the Chargers.Talib needs ankle surgery and will be out for at least eight weeks. Peters’ calf injury isn’t so serious Jaleel Johnson Jersey , but still might keep him out. The Rams are likely to go against Cousins with backup cornerbacks including Sam Shields, Troy Hill and Nickell Robey-Coleman.“I feel like we’re going to be great,” Robey-Coleman said. “I can’t take away from the hard work that every guy on this depth chart put in to get an opportunity to get on the field.”SLOW STARTAfter ranking seventh in the NFL last season in yards rushing, the Vikings are next-to-last with just 66 yards per game, although they’ve been throwing excessively with two late deficits in their first three games. There still hasn’t been much room for Dalvin Cook or Latavius Murray to run, and going against the Rams’ stout defensive line won’t help. Pat Elflein will return to the starting lineup at center, his rehab from offseason surgeries finally complete.“We’re not in panic mode. We’re not in that,” said Cook, who is expected to play after sitting out last week’s loss to Buffalo. “We’re going to get this thing going. It’s just a matter of time.”___AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell in Minneapolis contributed to this report.___ The Arizona Cardinals finally have their first victory, but plenty of problems remain.Arizona (1-4) scored three touchdowns off five San Francisco turnovers on its way to a 28-18 road victory on Sunday.The season-high five takeaways mask a lot of things that didn't go so well, not that Arizona will complain about getting first-year coach Steve Wilks his first victory."I felt good for everybody because the coaches, as well as the players, have been working so hard to try to get this win Pat Elflein Jersey ," Wilks said on Monday.The Cardinals' offense started out spectacularly. On Arizona's first play, a pair of rookies 鈥?Josh Rosen and Christian Kirk 鈥?connected on a 75-yard touchdown. But the rest of the game, the Cardinals managed just 145 yards."Again, inconsistencies," Wilks said. "When you look across the board, it's not just one guy. Everybody's taking their turn at making that one mistake, which is really costing us as far as having a big play here or there, whether it's a drop by a receiver, a lineman not executing their block, a running back not hitting the right hole, whatever it may be."Rosen had a sputtering afternoon in his second NFL start. He finished 10 of 25 for 170 yards. That's 9 for 24 for 95 yards after that opening 75-yard pass."Josh is going to be a work in progress because you really can't get it done in practice," Wilks said. "You show him the different looks, but those guys are going at a different speed on game day. So he's going to learn on the run. He's going to have to have a few bumps here and there Dalvin Cook Jersey , but he's going to also make some good plays."Arizona was on the field for 92 defensive snaps, the Cardinals' most since 1958."We've got to do a much better job of getting off the field," Wilks said. "They had a 13-play drive I believe in the third quarter, and they only had one third down. So again, we've got to create negative plays and get these guys in third-and-long and get off the field."Chandler Jones certainly did his part.The big defensive end had six tackles, a sack, two tackles for loss, two quarterback hits, a fumble recovery and a pass defensed."Yeah, that was a lot of plays," Jones said after the game. "That was a lot of reps. We just tried to capitalize."Jones has at least one sack in 26 of 37 games he's played with Arizona.The Cardinals play at Minnesota on Sunday.Notes: Arizona has signed WR Kendall Wright to a one-year contract and released CB Deatrick Nichols. Wright is a six-year NFL veteran who has played in 82 games with 339 receptions for 3,858 yards and 19 touchdowns.