Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings entered the final week of the season against the Detroit Lions with a staggering 14 wins. One more and they would not only win the NFC North, but the number one seed in the NFC Playoffs as well.
Instead of Minnesota playing a competitive game, Detroit stomped them 31-9. The Vikings stumbled into the Wild Card and were decimated by the Los Angeles Rams 27-9. The crux of the issue for Minnesota was, once again, at quarterback. Sam Darnold had the season of his life, only for him to revert to the Darnold of old when it mattered most.
Darnold’s 2024 season was shocking to the sports world. A QB who was once considered a “bust” was having a career year. He was becoming the QB that the New York Jets thought he would be when they selected him third overall in the 2018 draft. Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell had turned the guy who was once “seeing ghosts” on Monday Night Football into more than just a serviceable QB. In fact, Darnold was at one point considered an MVP candidate.
Entering Week 18, Sam Darnold was coming off another strong performance against an NFC North rival – the Green Bay Packers. Darnold completed over 76% of his passes for over 375 yards and three touchdowns. The Vikings were able to edge out the Packers 27-25, setting up a showdown with the powerhouse Lions. Instead of proving he was up to the task, Darnold shrank under the spotlight. He posted season lows in completion percentage (43.9%) and passing yards (166) while failing to score a single touchdown.
Surely this was only a hiccup, right? There was no way Darnold was about to turn back into one of the worst QBs in the league in his very first playoff start… right?
Unfortunately for the Vikings faithful, that’s exactly what happened. The Rams defensive front made life hell for Darnold – and his offensive line – to the tune of NINE sacks, which tied an NFL record for most sacks in a single playoff game. Darnold failed to connect with his targets consistently yet again, leaving plenty of yards and opportunities out on the field. He threw a touchdown to T.J. Hockensen in the third quarter to cut the lead to 27-9, but a failed two-point conversion kept it a three-score game. This proved to be too much for Sam Darnold and the Vikings to overcome.
Prior to the team falling apart, the Minnesota Vikings faced a dilemma at QB. They had just spent a first-round pick on QB J.J. McCarthy, even going as far as to trade up one spot to ensure they got their guy. Darnold was signed as the backup for McCarthy. After McCarthy suffered a torn meniscus in his first preseason game, the season seemed lost. After all, what could Darnold possibly do as a starting QB? He had failed to prove himself in New York and Carolina and spent a year as a backup in San Francisco.
Darnold ignored the outside noise and shocked the world – perhaps he was turning a corner? Or was he simply a beneficiary of the phenomenal support system around him? O’Connell was a disciple of offensive mastermind Sean McVay, spending a couple of seasons as the Rams’ offensive coordinator before becoming Minnesota’s head coach in 2022. The Vikings had done an incredible job of piecing the offense together; Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockensen, and Aaron Jones were a quarterback’s dream (and a defense’s nightmare).
Given the circumstances, it shouldn’t have come as a TOTAL surprise that Darnold would ascend to new heights in Minnesota’s offensive system. While stats rarely tell the full story, one only has to look at Darnold’s regular season numbers to see just how different he was this year. Career-highs in completion percentage, passer rating, yards, and touchdowns meant one thing: he was playing for a lucrative new contract.
The dilemma Minnesota faced was one that could have altered the course of the franchise. Should they let Darnold walk in free agency and try to run it back with McCarthy? Or should they bite the bullet and sign Darnold to a multi-year deal? If so, would McCarthy then become trade bait? Would a sign-and-trade or tag-and-trade scenario be possible for Darnold? Who would be interested in either QB?
Darnold’s sudden regression answered the question for the Vikings. Following the loss to the Rams, O’Connell seemed to imply that Darnold’s time in Minnesota was over.
“It did not work out in the end, and 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.”
Sam Darnold’s story in the NFL still isn’t over. He’ll only be 28 by the start of next season and has proven that he can play well enough to win close games. There are several teams in need of a quarterback entering 2025, and the incoming draft class looks a bit weak in that position. Aside from Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Miami’s Cam Ward, there doesn’t seem to be any QBs worth taking in the first round.
A team not picking in the top three may take a flier on Darnold on a one-year, incentive-heavy deal. The Tennessee Titans are all but guaranteed to take either Sanders or Ward at number one. What happens after that is anyone’s guess, but whoever is still available between Sanders and Ward will most likely go to the New York Giants at number three. That is, of course, unless the Cleveland Browns fall in love with one of these QBs.
Regardless of what happens amongst those three teams, the Las Vegas Raiders, New York Jets, New Orleans Saints, and Pittsburgh Steelers all have big question marks at QB as the draft draws near. At least one of them will, at minimum, reach out to Darnold’s camp before long.
Sam Darnold’s Cinderella story in Minnesota may not have ended how he wanted, but the door hasn’t shut on his career just yet. He certainly won’t receive a multi-year, big-money deal at this point, but chances are that Darnold will be starting elsewhere when the 2025 regular season kicks off.
Read More NFL News From Stadium Rant Here: NFL News
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to our newsletter here. Check out Stadium Rant Original shows on our Youtube channel and subscribe! Give our socials Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok a follow for more great content!
