Sam Darnold’s loss to Rams has major implications for Vikings’ future at QB – Blogging Sole

Sam Darnold’s loss to Rams has major implications for Vikings’ future at QB – Blogging Sole

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GLENDALE, Ariz. — The look on Zygi Wilf’s face says it all. It was as if the owner and president of the Minnesota Vikings had just watched a horror movie with a sickening ending. He walked out of the locker room, stood for a few seconds and stared at the crowd in front of him. His son, Jonathan, showed him a long corridor. And he slowly moved into another offseason.

How did it end so abruptly? How did a 14-win Vikings team go from being a potential No. 1 seed to losing in the wild-card round so quickly? Wilf’s mind raced with 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 his teammates showered him with bottles of water as part of a locker room celebration after a victory at U.S. Bank Stadium. Now, here they were Monday night at State Farm Stadium, packing up their bags and heading for the buses after a violent fight. Defeat 27-9 to the underdog Los Angeles Rams.

Sam Darnold’s loss to Rams has major implications for Vikings’ future at QB – Blogging Sole

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The dichotomy between the two scenes was as striking as it was disorienting. In the first snapshot, Darnold, 27, appeared to have completed a career transformation and galvanized an organization in the process. In the second, it seemed fair to question how much of Darnold’s impressive play this season was a mirage.

“I think it’s very important that we all think about Sam’s work,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said after the game. “It didn’t work out in the end, and I think Sam would be the first to tell you that (he could have played better).”

After a loss like this, there are usually multiple culprits. The offensive line is another no-brainer for Minnesota. The Rams sacked Darnold nine times, tying an NFL playoff record. Additionally, 12 Rams defenders generated at least one pressure, according to Next Gen Stats, their most in a game since Week 6 in 2021.

Allocating cap space and draft capital to interior offensive linemen will be a priority this offseason. O’Connell suggested it Monday night.

Yet that concern pales in comparison to the importance of what’s happening at the quarterback position — and what that means for everything else — which is why Darnold’s slide over the past two weeks is so shocking.

After playing well enough over the first 16 games to lead the Vikings to a 14-2 record and legitimately be in the conversation for NFL MVPDarnold struggled mightily in the regular season finale, a 31-9 loss at Detroit. Against the Lions, he completed just 18 of 41 passes for 166 yards, posting his third-worst passer rating (55.5) and highest bad throw percentage of the season (34.2).

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This trouble continued against the Rams. His numbers – 25 of 40 passing for 245 yards, one touchdown and one interception – belied Darnold’s comfort level. He misplaced several throws. Darnold, who so often this season had been extremely accurate, threw himself behind his receivers. He came out of the pocket but was unable to recover the ball. His eyes often swept from right to left too quickly. His feet constantly swiveled back and forth. He tried to escape the smugglers, who engulfed him almost every time.

Darnold’s system worked poorly in almost every way. When it wasn’t his vision, it was his footwork. When it wasn’t his vision or his footwork, it was his arm.

“I left out too many throws that I usually would,” he said afterward.

If he had said that earlier in his career in New York or Carolina, some might have laughed. But this season, when we entrusted him O’Connell’s diagram and the development processhe has proven over a significant sample size that he can progress with pace, deliver the football with precision and withstand pressure.

Darnold also showed resilience, going through a rough midseason stretch against the Colts and Jaguars in which he threw five interceptions. The way he responded to those tough film sessions, throwing 18 touchdowns and two interceptions over the next seven games, showed exactly what he was capable of.

At the end of December, AthleticsDianna Russini of ‘sa reported: “After conversations with a team source, one thing is clear: The Vikings want Darnold back in Minnesota for 2025.” Separately, another Vikings staffer texted: “Hope we can keep him.” » Darnold’s MVP chances have climbed. Against the Packers in the team’s final home game of the season, he completed 33 of 43 passes for 377 yards, three touchdowns and an interception and was later dunked by his teammates in the locker room.

This 2024 Vikings season, billed as a year of transition toward a more flexible future around rookie quarterback JJ McCarthy, had exceeded even the most optimistic expectations.

“Outside those walls, nobody really believed in him,” running back Aaron Jones said of Darnold at the time. “No one gave him a chance. But he proves everyone wrong.

It was the crescendo, a byproduct of an optimized infrastructure like Darnold. At the time, the Vikings team reiterated the role that rhythm and timing played in Darnold’s success and how important it was that his feet and eyes sync up.

Buried in the jargon was an important reality: Darnold trusted play calls so much and read so much that it was more about sticking to specific timing than observing the field and making decisions based on it. of what he saw. The best way to sum up his struggles in Detroit and Arizona was a disruption in timing. Both the Lions and the Rams affected Darnold’s ability to climb into the pocket, and both teams mixed countless stunts and exotic pressures to prevent Darnold from being comfortable, assessing the situation on the field and throwing.

There were many examples Monday evening. At the start of the second quarter, Darnold stepped back and looked at the right sideline. Rams defensive lineman Braden Fiske pushed Vikings left guard Blake Brandel toward Darnold, who stepped aside and kept his eyes on receiver Jordan Addison, while receiver Jalen Nailor was open in crossing the ground. Darnold threw a pass toward Addison. But the ball was late and behind Addison, and it was intercepted by Rams cornerback Cobie Durant.

Later in the quarter, the Rams blitzed safety Quentin Lake from deep. He got past right guard Dalton Risner, forcing Darnold to step up and shift his vision from right to left. Unsure of what he saw, he looked to his right. But before he could release the ball, another blitzer, Rams cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon, speared him in the back. Darnold fumbled and Rams edge rusher Jared Verse recovered and rumbled 57 yards for a touchdown, extending Los Angeles’ lead.

“There are instances where, when you watch the tape in an air-conditioned room tomorrow, you’ll feel like, ‘Man, why didn’t I do this or that?’” O’Connell said. “But it’s difficult at the moment. It’s difficult with how quickly things are happening.

Good quarterbacks have the arm and athleticism, especially in the modern NFL, but mind is what separates top-tier QBs. Matthew Stafford’s operational ability on the other side of the field validated that, and Monday night supported a popular opinion regarding the Vikings’ future: franchise tag or extend Darnold, who is set to become a free agent, n doesn’t make sense with the team. needs elsewhere, particularly inside the offensive line.

Leaving Darnold would of course raise questions. How ready is McCarthy? Which veteran option could the Vikings pair with McCarthy? And what would O’Connell think about having to create a whole new quarterback option?

These are very different questions from those that preoccupied Wilf as he made his way through the bowels of the stadium Monday night. But they will soon be on his plate after a wildly successful season that ended in a disappointing flash, a roller coaster ride for a quarterback who couldn’t polish the progress he had built.

(Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

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