Quarterback Sam Darnold was a giant cause the Minnesota Vikings entered Week 18 at 14-2, however he then endured a pair of nightmare performances throughout what may go down as the ultimate two video games of his Minnesota tenure.
Following the Vikings’ disheartening 27-9 wild-card playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Monday evening, Darnold spoke overtly about outings he’d in all probability favor to neglect sooner fairly than later.
“You realize, I clearly simply didn’t play adequate the final couple weeks,” Darnold acknowledged, as shared by Myles Simmons of Professional Soccer Discuss. “…Left too many throws on the market that I might often make. Gotta take higher care of the soccer — at this time, particularly.”
Darnold entered January as one of many top candidates for the Related Press Comeback Participant of the 12 months Award however then largely resembled the signal-caller who famously flopped throughout stints with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers when the Vikings wanted him most. Within the Week 18 31-9 loss on the Detroit Lions that decided the champions of the NFC North and the No. 1 seed for the playoffs, he accomplished 18-of-41 passes for 166 yards with no touchdowns.
The 27-year-old then took a beating on Monday evening. In keeping with Kevin Seifert of ESPN, the 82 yards Darnold misplaced on 9 sacks set a postseason report. In opposition to the Rams, he accomplished 25-of-40 passes for 245 yards with a landing, an interception and a second-quarter fumble that was returned for a rating.
“I felt like there have been a number of sacks at this time that I used to be answerable for,” Darnold admitted, “the place I used to be simply holding onto the soccer and taking sacks the place I may’ve both dirted it at somebody’s ft or simply merely thrown it over somebody’s head.”
A lot was made all through the autumn about how the Vikings may deal with the truth that Darnold remained on monitor to succeed in free company as rookie and first-round draft decide J.J. McCarthy continued to get better from a full meniscus repair he wanted in August. Following Monday’s debacle, analysts reminiscent of ESPN’s Dan Graziano predicted that the Vikings will let Darnold hit the open market when the brand new league 12 months begins in March.
“Clearly, on the finish of the day, all that issues is when you’ve got an excellent season, what do you do within the playoffs? And we didn’t get it performed and that’s all that issues,” Darnold added throughout his postgame feedback. “I’ll have a number of time after this to find a way to consider what the season entailed, however to be trustworthy, I’m simply enthusiastic about at this time and what I may’ve performed higher.”
Logic suggests a number of groups will wish to take a flier on Darnold for not less than the 2025 marketing campaign after he ended this previous common season with the league’s fifth-most passing yards (4,319) and fifth-most touchdowns by way of the air (35), per ESPN stats. With that stated, he doubtless value himself fairly a bit of cash when he turned the clock again in a adverse method over his final eight quarters of play.
