Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold’s career-best season came crashing down in brutal fashion when the Vikings were completely dominated by the Minnesota Vikings during their Wild Card playoff game on Monday night.
Darnold was one of the season’s big surprises throwing for career highs of 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns in his first year in Minnesota, taking over starting duties for injured rookie JJ McCarthy after spending the last few seasons as a journeyman backup.
But it all dwindled away on Monday night via a 27-9 loss highlighted by several sacks.
“Obviously,” Darnold said, according to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, “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.”
“I’ll have a lot of time after this to think about what the season entailed,” Darnold said. “But to be honest, I’m just thinking about today and what I could have done better.”
“It’s up to me to be able to feel that and either step up, move, go run for a first down or just simply throw it away,” he said. “I felt like there were a lot of sacks that I was responsible for, where I was just holding onto the football and taking sacks where I could have dirted it at someone’s feet or simply thrown it over someone’s head.”
Darnold’s future with the Vikings is uncertain, and likely over following Monday’s elimination, as Darnold is set to hit free agency and likely to command a hefty contract that will price him out of Minnesota.
The Vikings could re-sign him or use their franchise tag to retain him for 2025, but there has been no indication on what their thinking is in regards to Darnold with the offseason underway.
“What he was able to do this year, when not very many people thought he would be able to lead a team to 14 wins, which is rare,” Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “The way he came in, committed himself to just a daily process to be the best version of himself. It did not work out in the end. I think Sam would be the first one to tell you. Could he have played better tonight? I’m sure he would tell you he could have. Could I have coached better? I promise you I could have. Could our team have rallied around a play here and there to keep it close? For sure.”