Sam Darnold's narrow loss to the Rams has a huge impact on the Vikings' future at QB

Posted by enzo2go January 15, 2025

GLENDALE, Ariz. – The look on Zygi Wilf's face said all of it. It was as if the owner and chairman of the Minnesota Vikings had just seen a horror movie with a terrible ending. He left the locker room and stood there for a couple of seconds, staring blankly at the gang in front of him. His son Jonathan showed him an extended hallway. And off we went slowly into one other offseason.

How could it end so abruptly? How could a Vikings team with 14 wins go from potential No. 1 seed to loser within 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 a part of a locker room celebration after a win at US Bank Stadium. Now they were at State Farm Stadium on Monday night, closing their bags and heading to the buses after suffering a brutal 27-9 loss to the underdog Los Angeles Rams.

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The dichotomy between the 2 scenes was as stark because it was confusing. In the primary snapshot, it appeared as if Darnold, 27, had made a profession change and ignited a corporation in the method. At second glance, it was fair to wonder how much of Darnold's impressive play this season was a mirage.

“I think it's very important that we all reflect on Sam's work,” Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell said after the sport. “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 often multiple culprits. The offensive line can also be obvious for Minnesota. The Rams sacked Darnold nine times, tying an NFL playoff record. Additionally, based on Next Gen Stats, 12 Rams defenders generated a minimum of one pressure, essentially the most in a game since Week 6 of 2021.

Allocating space and draft capital to interior defenders shall be a priority this offseason. O'Connell suggested this on Monday evening.

Still, that concern pales as compared to the importance of what happens at quarterback — and what meaning for every part else — which is why Darnold's loss over the past two weeks is so devastating.

After playing well enough in the primary 16 games to guide the Vikings to a 14-2 record and legit NFL MVP consideration, Darnold struggled within the regular season finale, a 31-9 rout. Defeat in Detroit. Against the Lions, he accomplished just 18 of 41 passes for 166 yards, posting his third-worst passer rating (55.5) and his highest miss rate of the season (34.2).

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Those issues continued 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 has been accurate so often this season, threw behind his receivers. He spun out of the pocket but didn’t release the ball. His eyes often moved too quickly from right to left. His feet kept swinging backwards and forwards. He tried to avoid pass rushers who surrounded him almost each time.

Darnold's system failed in almost every way. 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 normally would,” he said afterwards.

If he had said that earlier in his profession in New York or Carolina, some might need laughed. However, despite being aware of O'Connell's plan and development process this season, he demonstrated in a big sample that he can develop in rhythm, execute the football with precision and withstand pressure.

Darnold also showed resilience, overcoming a difficult midseason stretch against the Colts and Jaguars during which he threw five interceptions. The way he responded to those tough film sessions, throwing 18 touchdowns and two interceptions over the subsequent seven games, showed what he was able to.

end of December, The athleteDianna Russini of 's reported, “After speaking with a team source, one thing is clear: The Vikings want Darnold back in Minnesota for 2025.” Separately, one other Vikings worker wrote, “I hope we can keep him.” Darnold's MVP Opportunities increased. Against the Packers within the team's final home game of the season, he accomplished 33 of 43 passes for 377 yards, three touchdowns and one interception and was subsequently drenched by his teammates within the locker room.

This 2024 Vikings season, billed as a transition yr to a more flexible future centered around rookie quarterback JJ McCarthy, had exceeded even the rosiest expectations.

“Outside these walls, no one really believed in him,” running back Aaron Jones said of Darnold on the time. “Nobody gave him a chance. But he proves everyone wrong.”

That was the crescendo, a byproduct of an infrastructure optimized along Darnold's model. At the time, the Vikings staff emphasized the role rhythm and timing played in Darnold's success and the importance of his feet and eyes being in sync.

Hidden within the jargon was a very important reality: Darnold trusted the play calls and reads a lot that it was more about sticking to a selected timing than watching the sphere and making decisions based on what he saw. His struggles in Detroit and Arizona were best summed up by a break in timing. Both the Lions and Rams hampered Darnold's ability to maneuver up within the pocket, and each teams mixed countless stunts and exotic pressures to forestall Darnold from becoming comfortable, assessing the image in the sphere, and throwing.

There were quite a few examples from Monday evening. At the beginning of the second quarter, Darnold dropped back and faced the fitting sideline. Rams defensive lineman Braden Fiske pushed Vikings left guard Blake Brandel toward Darnold, who stepped aside and kept a watch on receiver Jordan Addison while receiver Jalen Nailor crossed the sphere openly. 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 within the quarter, the Rams attacked safety Quentin Lake from deep. He slipped past right defenseman Dalton Risner, forcing Darnold to step forward and shift his vision from right to left. Unsure of what he saw, he looked back to his right. But before he could release the ball, one other blitzer, Rams cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon, speared him within the back. Darnold fumbled, and Rams edge rusher Jared Verse recovered and rumbled 57 yards for a touchdown, extending Los Angeles' lead.

“There are some examples where if you go back tomorrow and look at the tape in an air-conditioned room, you'll think, 'Man, why didn't I just do this or that?'” O'Connell said. “But it’s difficult at the moment. It’s difficult considering how quickly things are happening out there.”

Good quarterbacks have the arm and athleticism, especially in the fashionable NFL, however the mind is what sets the highest quarterbacks apart. Matthew Stafford's operational capability on the opposite side of the sphere confirmed that, and Monday night confirmed a widely held opinion in regards to the Vikings' future: Franchise-tagging or extending Darnold, who is about to develop into a free agent, is mindless for the team's need elsewhere, particularly on the inside of the offensive line.

Of course, one other move toward Darnold would raise questions. How ready is McCarthy? What veteran option could the Vikings pair with McCarthy? And what would O'Connell take into consideration having to construct a completely latest quarterback option?

These are completely different questions than those that went through Wilf's head as he wound his way through the bowels of the stadium on Monday evening. But they’ll soon be on his plate after a wildly successful season that resulted in a disappointing blitz, a rollercoaster ride for a quarterback who couldn't polish the progress he'd made.



image credit : www.nytimes.com

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