GLENDALE, Ariz. — The look on Zygi Wilf’s face mentioned all of it. It was as if the Minnesota Vikings proprietor and chairman had simply watched a horror film with a gutting ending. He exited the locker room, stood for just a few seconds and stared blankly on the crowd of individuals in entrance of him. His son, Jonathan, pointed him towards a protracted hallway. And off he went slowly into one other offseason.
How did this finish so abruptly? How did a 14-win Vikings crew oscillate so rapidly from being a possible No. 1 seed to dropping within the wild-card spherical? Wilf’s thoughts turned with questions equivalent to these.
None of them, although, had been as confounding as this one: What occurred to quarterback Sam Darnold?
Two weeks in the past, Darnold’s Vikings teammates had been dousing him with water bottles as a part of a locker-room celebration following a win at U.S. Financial institution Stadium. Now, right here they had been Monday night time at State Farm Stadium, zipping up their suitcases and heading for the buses after 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 disorienting. Within the first snapshot, the 27-year-old Darnold appeared to have accomplished a profession transformation and galvanized a company within the course of. Within the second, it felt honest to marvel how a lot of Darnold’s spectacular play this season was a mirage.
“I believe it’s essential all of us take into consideration Sam’s physique of labor,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell mentioned postgame. “It didn’t work out ultimately, and I believe Sam could be the primary one to inform you (he may have performed higher).”
After a loss like this one, there are sometimes a number of culprits. The offensive line is one other apparent one for Minnesota. The Rams sacked Darnold 9 instances, tying an NFL playoff document. Moreover, 12 Rams defenders generated not less than one strain, in response to Subsequent Gen Stats, their most in a sport since Week 6 in 2021.
Hoecht throws up the “LA” after the Rams newest sack
📺: #MINvsLAR on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus and ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/iWM1Pofp0U— NFL (@NFL) January 14, 2025
Allocating cap area and draft capital to inside offensive linemen will probably be a precedence this offseason. O’Connell steered as a lot Monday night time.
Nonetheless, that concern pales compared to the significance of what occurs at quarterback — and what which means for all the pieces else — which is why Darnold’s drop-off over the past two weeks is so jarring.
After taking part in nicely sufficient over the primary 16 video games to guide the Vikings to a 14-2 document and legitimately be in the conversation for NFL MVP, Darnold struggled mightily within the regular-season finale, a 31-9 loss in Detroit. In opposition to the Lions, he accomplished simply 18 of 41 passes for 166 yards, posting his third-worst passer ranking (55.5) and his highest bad-throw proportion of the season (34.2).
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These troubles continued towards the Rams. His numbers — 25-for-40 passing for 245 yards, a landing and an interception — belied Darnold’s degree of consolation. He misplaced a number of throws. Darnold, who so usually this season had been pinpoint correct, threw behind his receivers. He spun out of the pocket however did not get the ball off. His eyes usually scanned from proper to left too rapidly. His toes swiveled backwards and forwards consistently. He tried to evade move rushers, who engulfed him virtually each time.
Darnold’s system malfunctioned in virtually each regard. When it wasn’t his imaginative and prescient, it was his footwork. When it wasn’t his imaginative and prescient or his footwork, it was his arm.
“Left too many throws on the market that I might normally make,” he mentioned afterward.
Had he mentioned that earlier in his profession in New York or Carolina, some may need laughed. However this season, whereas entrusted in O’Connell’s scheme and developmental process, he proved over a significant pattern dimension that he may progress in rhythm, ship the soccer precisely and face up to strain.
Darnold had additionally displayed resilience, navigating a tough midseason stretch towards the Colts and Jaguars throughout which he threw 5 interceptions. The best way he responded to these powerful movie periods, throwing 18 touchdowns and two interceptions within the ensuing seven video games, confirmed simply what he was able to.
In late December, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported, “After conversations with a crew supply, one factor is evident: The Vikings need Darnold again in Minnesota for 2025.” Individually, one other Vikings staffer texted, “I hope we will maintain him.” Darnold’s MVP odds climbed. In opposition to the Packers within the crew’s ultimate house sport of the season, he accomplished 33 of 43 passes for 377 yards, three touchdowns and an interception and was soaked by teammates afterward within the locker room.
The Sam Darnold expertise continues. pic.twitter.com/k5db9DYdtp
— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) December 30, 2024
This 2024 Vikings season, billed as a transition 12 months towards a extra versatile future round rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy, had exceeded even the rosiest expectations.
“Outdoors of those partitions, no person actually believed in him,” operating again Aaron Jones mentioned of Darnold on the time. “No one gave him an opportunity. However he’s proving all people flawed.”
That was the crescendo, a byproduct of an infrastructure optimized in Darnold’s picture. On the time, the Vikings workers reiterated the position that rhythm and timing performed in Darnold’s success and the way necessary it was for his toes and eyes to sync.
Buried within the jargon was an necessary actuality: Darnold trusted the play calls and reads a lot that it was extra about sticking to a particular timing than observing the sphere and making selections primarily based on what he noticed. One of the simplest ways to sum up his struggles in Detroit and Arizona was an interruption in timing. Each the Lions and Rams affected Darnold’s potential to climb up within the pocket, and each groups blended in numerous stunts and unique pressures to maintain Darnold from being snug, assessing the image downfield and throwing.
There have been quite a few examples from Monday night time. Early within the second quarter, Darnold dropped again and eyed the correct sideline. Rams defensive lineman Braden Fiske pushed Vikings left guard Blake Brandel towards Darnold, who side-stepped and saved his eyes on receiver Jordan Addison, whereas receiver Jalen Nailor was open crossing the sphere. Darnold hurled a move in Addison’s route. However the ball was late and behind Addison, and it was intercepted by Rams cornerback Cobie Durant.
Later within the quarter, the Rams blitzed security Quentin Lake from depth. He squeaked previous proper guard Dalton Risner, forcing Darnold to step up and transfer his imaginative and prescient from proper to left. Unsure with what he was seeing, he regarded again to his proper. However earlier than he may launch the ball, one other blitzer, Rams cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon, speared him within the again. Darnold fumbled, and Rams edge rusher Jared Verse recovered and rumbled 57 yards for a landing, extending Los Angeles’ lead.
JARED VERSE 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 the place, once you return and watch the tape in an air-conditioned room tomorrow, it’s going to really feel like, ‘Man, why didn’t I simply do that or that?’” O’Connell mentioned. “However it’s laborious within the second. It’s laborious with how briskly issues occur on the market.”
Good quarterbacks have the arm and the athleticism, particularly within the trendy NFL, however the thoughts is what separates the top-tier QBs. Matthew Stafford’s working capability on the opposite aspect of the sphere validated this, and Monday night time substantiated a well-liked opinion concerning the Vikings’ future: Franchise-tagging or extending Darnold, who is about to change into a free agent, doesn’t make sense with the crew’s wants elsewhere, particularly on the inside of the offensive line.
Shifting on from Darnold would, in fact, increase questions. How prepared is McCarthy? Which veteran possibility may the Vikings pair with McCarthy? And the way would O’Connell really feel about having to construct up a wholly new quarterback possibility?
These are vastly totally different questions from those on Wilf’s thoughts as he wound his approach by the bowels of the stadium Monday night time. However they’ll quickly be on his plate following a wildly profitable season that resulted in a disappointing flash, a roller-coaster journey for a quarterback who couldn’t polish off the progress he’d constructed.
(Photograph: Christian Petersen / Getty Pictures)
