Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold reacts in the closing seconds of the game against the Los Angeles Rams. Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Sam Darnold answers for Vikings' poor finish in NFL playoffs

Originally posted on Seattle Seahawks on SI
By Jon Alfano | Last updated Jun 20, 2025 9:00 AM ET

The Minnesota Vikings were one of the NFL's Cinderella teams in 2024, as journeyman quarterback Sam Darnold led a team with zero expectations to a 14-3 record while putting up easily the best numbers of his career.

Unfortunately, the clock struck midnight sooner than he and the team hoped for.

First, the Vikings lost a Week 18 showdown for the NFC North against the Detroit Lions 31-9, making them the first 14-win wild card team in NFL history. A week later, they were blown out by the Los Angeles Rams 27-9 to end their season with a whimper.

Darnold struggled tremendously across those two games, completing 43 of 81 passes (53.1 percent) for 411 yards, one touchdown and one interception while taking 11 sacks. Nine of those sacks came against the Rams, and one of those ended up becoming a scoop-and-score.

As Darnold moves into the next chapter of his career with the Seattle Seahawks, he reflected on what went wrong in his final games as a Viking.

“For lack of a better term, we laid an egg as an offense,” Darnold told The Athletic. “And I think, for me personally, that sucks. I felt like we were a really good team, but at the end of the day — and this is gonna sound a little pessimistic — but when you get to the end of it and you don’t win the whole thing, you failed.

“I feel like I could have played way better, to be completely honest with you. I feel I didn’t play up to my standard. I truly feel that way. I feel like if I would have just played better, I would’ve been able to give the team a chance.”

It's very possible that Darnold's poor performance in these two games is what convinced the Vikings to move on from him and hand the reins to 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy. We'll likely never know for sure, but it would make some degree of sense.

Ultimately, though, Darnold feels the experience from these two games will help him in the long run.

“KO and those guys in Minnesota did such a good job — and we do a great job here as well — of giving me answers if they take options away,” Darnold explained. “Like, just go through your progressions and work your feet and if it’s not there take off and run — because there’s no one accounting for the quarterback, unless they play a spy or whatever.

“I learned a lot last season, from those two games especially. At the end of the day, you go through those experiences, you learn, and you get better. I try every single day to get better. That’s it.”

This article first appeared on Seattle Seahawks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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