Sam Darnold Had Candid Assessment Of His Performance in Vikings' Loss

Sam Darnold did not hold back when discussing how poorly he played in his playoff debut.

The Los Angeles Rams beat the Minnesota Vikings 27–9 Monday night to advance to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. Darnold struggled big time, completing 25 of 40 passes for 245 yards, with one touchdown, an interception, and a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. He was also sacked nine times, which was an NFL playoff record.

Darnold had been a huge part of the Vikings' outstanding regular season that produced a 14–3 record. He was a Pro Bowl selection for the first time this year, but on Monday night, and last Sunday against the Detroit Lions, he looked like a shell of himself.

After the game, the 27-year-old didn't hold back when discussing his performance.

"Clearly just didn't play good enough the last couple weeks," Darnold said. "Just, like I said, left too many throws out there that I would usually make and gotta take better care of the football, today especially."

He also took the burden off his offensive linemen for the sacks he took. "I felt like there were a lot of sacks today that I was responsible for. Where I was just holding on to the football and taking sacks," Darnold said.

Now Darnold will head into the offseason as a free agent. The Vikings selected J.J. McCarthy with the No. 10 pick in the 2024 NFL draft, but he missed the season after suffering a knee injury. Speculation for weeks had the Vikings putting the franchise tag on Darnold for 2025 while allowing McCarthy to develop, but after the last two weeks things may have changed.