Kevin O’Connell appreciates Sam Darnold, but says ‘it didn’t work out in the end’

Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said after Monday night’s loss to the Rams that quarterback Sam Darnold has a “special place in my heart” because of the way he played this season. But he acknowledged that Darnold wasn’t good enough in the final games of the season.

“I just want to say that it’s very important that we all think about Sam’s work, what he was able to do this year, when not many people thought he would be able to lead a team to 14 wins, ” O’Connell said. “It didn’t work out in the end and I think Sam would be the first to tell you, could he have played better tonight? I’m sure he’d tell you he could have. Could have I trained better? I’m sure I could have.”

For most of the season, Darnold was outstanding, playing by far the best football of his career. But the last two games were a 31-9 loss to the Lions in the regular-season finale, and Monday night’s 27-9 loss to the Rams in the wild-card round of the playoffs. In those games, Darnold repeatedly wilted under pressure. O’Connell said it wasn’t all on Darnold, but that the offense wasn’t nearly good enough in the season’s two biggest games.

“Too many negative things. Really, over the last two weeks, too many negative plays that set you back,” O’Connell said.

O’Connell said he is proud of the season the Vikings had, even if they fell short in the end.

“Very tough feeling in the locker room right now,” O’Connell said. “This team did a lot of special things this year, but we didn’t play well enough to win this football game.”

Now, the Vikings have a big offseason ahead of them — one where Darnold will be a free agent, first-round quarterback JJ McCarthy will be healthy and the team will have a big decision to make at quarterback.