Joe Buck, Troy Aikman Speculate Sam Darnold ‘Cost Himself Money’ With Vikings' Losses

Sam Darnold’s last two games may have cost him money according to Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.
Sam Darnold throws the ball against the Rams.
Sam Darnold throws the ball against the Rams. / Joseph Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Rams beat the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC wild-card round on Monday night, 27-9. A nightmare first half turned into an all-around ugly performance by Sam Darnold and the Vikings offense.

Eight days after they were playing the Detroit Lions with a shot at the No. 1 seed in the conference, the Vikings were eliminated from the playoffs. Darnold finished with 245 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception. He completed 25-of-39 pass attempts and was sacked nine times for a record amount of yards lost.

ESPN announcers Joe Buck and Troy Aikman criticized the Vikings' for a lack of urgency throughout the fourth quarter and also touched on Darnold's contract situation, which Aikman said is "a different conversation today than it was two weeks ago."

"And not to be simplistic about it," said Buck, "but with the way the Vikings have played and Sam Darnold has played over the last couple of weeks, he's at least cost himself some money."

Aikman agreed, saying, "No doubt."

Darnold, who put up career best numbers across the board and finished fifth in the NFL in passing yards and touchdown passes this season, is going to be a free agent this offseason.


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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.