GLENDALE, Ariz. – The look on Zygi Wilf’s face said it all. It was as if the owner and chairman of the Minnesota Vikings had just watched a horror movie with a horrible ending. He left the locker room, stood for a few seconds and stared blankly at the crowd of people in front of him. His son Jonathan showed him to a long hallway. And there he slowly entered another offseason.
How did this end so abruptly? How did a 14-win Vikings team go from a potential No. 1 seed to a loss in the wild-card round so quickly? Wilf’s thoughts turned to questions like these.
However, none of them were as confusing as this one: What happened to quarterback Sam Darnold?
Two weeks ago, Darnold’s Vikings teammates doused him with water bottles as part of a locker room celebration after a win at US Bank Stadium. Now here they were Monday night at State Farm Stadium, zipping up their bags and heading to the buses after a brutal 27-9 loss to the underdog Los Angeles Rams.
GO DEEPER
Downs Vikings 27-9 in wild card game for date with Eagles: Takeaways
The dichotomy between the two scenes was as stark as it was disorienting. In the first snapshot, Darnold, 27, appeared to have completed a career transformation and galvanized an organization in the process. In the second, it felt fair to wonder how much of Darnold’s impressive play this season was a mirage.
“I think it’s really important that we all think about Sam’s body of work,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said after the game. “It didn’t work out in the end and I think Sam would be the first to tell you (he could have played better).”
After a loss like this, there are usually several culprits. The offensive line is another obvious area for Minnesota. The Rams sacked Darnold nine times, tying an NFL playoff record. Additionally, 12 Rams defensemen generated at least one pressure, according to Next Gen Stats, the most pressures in a game since Week 6 in 2021.
Hoecht throws up the “LA” after the Rams’ final sack
📺: #MINvsLAR on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus and ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/iWM1Pofp0U—NFL (@NFL) January 14, 2025
Allocating cap space and draft capital to interior offensive linemen will be a priority this season. O’Connell suggested as much Monday night.
Still, that concern pales in comparison to the importance of what’s happening at quarterback — and what that means for everything else — which is why Darnold’s regression over the past two weeks has been so shocking.
After playing well enough through the first sixteen games to lead the Vikings to a 14-2 record and legitimately in the conversation for NFL MVP, Darnold struggled in the regular season finale, a 31-9 loss in Detroit. Against the Lions, he completed just 18 of 41 passes for 166 yards, earning his third-worst passer rating (55.5) and his highest bad-throw percentage of the season (34.2).
GO DEEPER
Did the Vikings’ battle against the Lions provide a blueprint for how to slow down Sam Darnold?
Those issues persisted against the Rams. His numbers — 25-for-40, passing for 245 yards, a touchdown and an interception — belied Darnold’s comfort level. He misplaced several throws. Darnold, who had been accurate so often this season, threw behind his receivers. He spun out of the pocket, but was unable to clear the ball. His eyes often moved too quickly from right to left. His feet were constantly turning back and forth. He tried to avoid passers-by, who almost swamped him every time.
Darnold’s system malfunctioned in almost every area. If it wasn’t his vision, it was his footwork. If it wasn’t his vision or his footwork, it was his arm.
“I left too many throws that I would normally make,” he said afterward.
If he had said that earlier in his career in New York or Carolina, some might have laughed. But this season, while entrusted with O’Connell’s plan and development process, he proved over a significant sample size that he could progress in rhythm, deliver the football accurately and withstand pressure.
Darnold had also shown resilience in navigating a tough midseason against the Colts and Jaguars in which he threw five interceptions. The way he responded to those tough film sessions, throwing 18 touchdowns and two interceptions over the next seven games, showed what he was capable of.
It was the end of December The AthleticsDianna Russini reported: “After conversations with a team source, one thing is clear: the Vikings want Darnold back in Minnesota for 2025.” Separately, another Vikings staffer texted, “I hope we can keep him.” Darnold’s MVP chances increased. Against the Packers in the final home game of the season, he completed 33 of 43 passes for 377 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, then was soaked by teammates in the locker room.
The Sam Darnold experience continues. pic.twitter.com/k5db9DYdtp
— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) December 30, 2024
This 2024 Vikings season, billed as a transition year toward a more flexible future around rookie quarterback JJ McCarthy, had exceeded even the rosiest expectations.
“No one really believed in him outside these walls,” running back Aaron Jones said of Darnold at the time. “No one gave him a chance. But he proves everyone wrong.”
That was the crescendo, a byproduct of an infrastructure optimized in Darnold’s image. At the time, the Vikings staff reiterated the role rhythm and timing played in Darnold’s success and how important it was for his feet and eyes to sync.
Buried in the jargon was an important reality: Darnold trusted the play calls and read so much that it was more about sticking to specific timing than observing the field and making decisions based on what he saw. The best way to sum up his struggles in Detroit and Arizona was a breakdown in timing. Both the Lions and Rams had an impact on Darnold’s ability to climb into the pocket, and both teams mixed in numerous stunts and exotic pressures to keep Darnold from getting comfortable, assessing the downfield picture and throwing .
There were numerous examples from Monday night. Early in the second quarter, Darnold dropped back and looked toward the right sideline. Rams defensive lineman Braden Fiske pushed Vikings left guard Blake Brandel toward Darnold, who stepped aside and kept his eyes on receiver Jordan Addison as receiver Jalen Nailor ran open down the field. Darnold threw a pass in Addison’s direction. But the ball was late and behind Addison, and it was intercepted by Rams cornerback Cobie Durant.
Later in the quarter, the Rams blew safe Quentin Lake from deep. He squeaked past right guard Dalton Risner, forcing Darnold to step forward and shift his vision from right to left. Unsure of what he saw, he looked to his right. But before he could release the ball, another blitzer, Rams cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon, speared him in the back. Darnold fumbled, and Rams edge rusher Jared Verse recovered to rumble 57 yards for a touchdown, extending Los Angeles’ lead.
JARED VERSUS SCOOP AND SCORE!
📺: #MINvsLAR on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus and ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/bXLHmOUaQW—NFL (@NFL) January 14, 2025
“There are some examples where if you go back tomorrow and watch the tape in an air-conditioned room, you’ll feel like, ‘Man, why didn’t I just do this or that?’” O’Connell said. “But right now it’s difficult. It’s difficult how quickly things happen out there.”
Good quarterbacks have the arm and the athleticism, especially in the modern NFL, but it’s the mind that separates the top tier QBs. Matthew Stafford’s operational ability on the other end of the court confirmed this, and Monday night confirmed a popular opinion about the Vikings’ future: Franchise tagging or extending Darnold, who is set to become a free agent, has no sense with the expectations of the team. needs elsewhere, especially within the offensive line.
Of course, moving forward with Darnold, questions would arise. How ready is McCarthy? What veteran option could the Vikings pair with McCarthy? And how would O’Connell feel about building an entirely new quarterback option?
These are very different questions than the ones Wilf was thinking about as he made his way through the stadium on Monday evening. But they’ll soon be on his plate after a wildly successful season that ended in a disappointing flash, a roller-coaster ride for a quarterback who couldn’t erase the progress he’d made.
(Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)