Sam Darnold’s career-best season as Vikings sputter to a close

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Sam Darnold’s dream season came crashing down over the past two weeks. It happened so quickly that Darnold seemed unwilling to process its implications in the moments after the Minnesota Vikings’ 27-9 wild-card round loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night.

“Obviously,” Darnold said, “at the end of the day, all that matters when you have a good season is, ‘What do you do in the playoffs?’ We didn’t get it done today and that’s all that matters.”

Darnold appeared to rekindle his career this season after signing a one-year deal with the Vikings and leading them to 14 wins while throwing for a career-high 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns. After the Vikings’ Week 17 win over the visiting Green Bay Packers, teammates hoisted him on their shoulders in a symbolic celebration of his campaign.

Since that moment, however, Darnold has regressed to some of the levels that cost him his job with the New York Jets in 2020 and the Carolina Panthers in 2022. In the past eight days of losses to the Rams and Detroit Lions, he threw a combined 23 throws , according to ESPN Research, and totaled 11 sacks — including nine Monday night.

Where he once seemed on track for the Vikings to re-sign him or at least use their franchise tag to keep him through 2025, Darnold is now headed for free agency with his future as uncertain as ever.

“I’ll have a lot of time after this to think about what the season entailed,” Darnold said. “But to be honest, I just think about today and what I could have done better.”

Vikings All-Pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson acknowledged the uncertainty and declined Monday night to weigh in on the team’s looming decision. Jefferson compared the situation to the one the Vikings faced last season with Kirk Cousins, although in that case Jefferson supported Cousins’ return.

“I didn’t know who my quarterback was going to be (after last season) and I really didn’t care,” Jefferson said. “At the end of the day, I’ll always say I’m confident in myself to perform the way I’ve performed. But it’s not my job to say who’s going to be the quarterback or who I want to be quarterback At the end of the day, they’re going to figure it out and whoever they decide to go with, we can work with that.”

Darnold seemed particularly disappointed with Monday’s sack total, which tied an NFL postseason record. The 82 yards he lost on those sacks was a postseason record. He held the ball for an average of 4.73 seconds on those plays, eight of which came against a four-man rush.

“It’s up to me to be able to feel it and either step up, move, run for a first down or just throw it away,” he said. “I felt like there were a lot of sacks that I was responsible for where I just held on to the football and took sacks where I could have fouled it at somebody’s feet or just thrown it over somebody’s head.”

Asked why he didn’t, Darnold said, “Just a decision right now, trying to get away and not being able to get the ball out.”

Minnesota coach Kevin O’Connell offered some light criticism, noting that “there were some finishes to be had” and adding, “You’ve got to find a way to check the ball down and just keep moving the ball forward. Finishes have a negative effect on the defense. They just do those moments where you hold that ball and your reaction is to try to make a play.”

The organization will lean on O’Connell for a final decision on Darnold’s future and whether he’s ready to turn the offense over to 2024 draft pick JJ McCarthy or prefer to sign another veteran. Speaking Monday night, O’Connell went out of his way to say it was “very important that we all think about Sam’s body” during the season.

“What he was able to do this year, when not a lot of people thought he was going to be able to lead a team to 14 wins, which is rare,” O’Connell said. “The way he came in, committed to just a daily process to be the best version of himself. It didn’t work out in the end. I think Sam would be the first to tell you. Could he have played better tonight? I’m sure he would tell you he could have trained better.