Sam Darnold's disastrous playoff debut on heels of Lions loss leaves Vikings with a big offseason decision

Just two weeks ago, Sam Darnold was in the midst of a dream season and lined up for a career payday.

Two disastrous performances later in the biggest games of his career, and his football future is suddenly murky.

Darnold was outmatched and overwhelmed Monday night in the first playoff game of his career. The result was a 27-9 win by the Los Angeles Rams over his Vikings that eliminated Minnesota from the postseason. The loss concludes a 14-win Vikings season with a crashing thud and without a playoff win.

The Rams entered Monday's game with a clear game plan: pressure Darnold early and often, and see how he responds. It worked from the Vikings' opening drive. Darnold was indecisive throughout the night and frequently inaccurate when he managed to get rid of the ball.

Rams pass rush sets tone early

The Rams sacked Darnold on Minnesota's second play from scrimmage, setting up third-and-21 and ultimately forcing a three-and-out. Another sack of Darnold stunted Minnesota's second drive and limited the Vikings to a field goal.

Minnesota's third possession ended in an interception. Cobie Durant anticipated Darnold's pass to Jordan Addison in the flat and jumped the route near midfield.

Minnesota's next possession met an even worse fate. Cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon blitzed off the left edge and hit Darnold for a strip-sack. Darnold never saw him coming. Rookie linebacker Jared Verse picked the ball up and ran untouched down the sideline for a 57-yard touchdown to extend the Rams' lead to 17-3.

By halftime, the Vikings sacked Darnold twice more for a total of six. Per ESPN, that's the most first-half-sacks by one team in a playoff game since Washington against the Vikings in the 1988 NFC championship game.

The sixth Rams sack of the game by Kobie Turner resulted in a turnover on downs in Rams territory. The Rams responded with a 39-yard touchdown drive to extend their lead to 24-3 before halftime.

Another poor high-stakes performance

Darnold was moderately better in the second half and led the Vikings to a touchdown drive in the third quarter. But it was too little too late. The first-half hole proved much too big to dig out from. A fourth-quarter sack stifled hopes of a miracle comeback, and the Rams cruised to an uncontested victory.

Darnold finished the night completing 25 of 40 passes for 245 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He took nine sacks for a loss of 82 yards and one lost fumble. It was a second consecutive dreadful performance by Darnold when the lights of the season were brightest.

The Vikings faced a chance to skip the wild-card round in a winner-take-all regular-season finale against the Lions last week for the NFC North and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. They lost, 31-9, on a night when Darnold struggled to put the ball on target. He finished that game completing 18 of 41 passes (41.9%) for 166 yards without a touchdown.

What do Vikings do now?

On the heels of the high-stakes duds, the Vikings now enter the offseason with a big decision around the most important position in football. Do they attempt to re-sign Darnold? Do they let Darnold walk as a free agent and hand the reins to J.J. McCarthy?

Darnold was never supposed to be in this position to begin with. The Vikings drafted McCarthy last year in the first round out of Michigan as their quarterback of the future. They signed Darnold as a veteran bridge and anticipated backup for whenever McCarthy was ready to take the starting role.

A meniscus injury ended McCarthy's rookie season before it started, and Darnold was thrust back into the starting spotlight. He'd fizzled in previous starting opportunities with the Panthers and Jets after New York selected him with the No. 3 overall draft pick in 2018.

This time, in his third shot as a starter in his seventh NFL season, he shone. He led the Vikings to the third-best record in football at 14-3. He made his first career Pro Bowl while completing 66.2% of his passes for 254.1 yards per game with 35 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

It was a career redemption story in a sport that loves redemption stories. But the 2024 season chapter concludes with a giant asterisk that will be too big for the Vikings to ignore. That asterisk will certainly cost Darnold money. It may ultimately cost him another season as Minnesota's starter.