Sam Darnold's great season came crashing down with a stinker in Detroit

The Vikings needed a lot more from Darnold than they got on Sunday night at Ford Field.

Minnesota Vikings linebacker Pat Jones II (91) pressures Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) during the first half at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

One bad game does not negate all the good things Sam Darnold has done this season. But the extent of his struggles on Sunday night, within the context of how important this game was, makes for a tough pill to swallow for the Vikings and their quarterback as they turn their focus towards a trip to Los Angeles to begin the postseason.

Darnold was deservedly named to the Pro Bowl earlier this week. He's been one of the coolest success stories in the NFL this season, resurrecting his career with an incredible year that few expected. He's a major reason why Minnesota was 14-2 coming into this highly-anticipated rivalry showdown with enormous stakes.

Yet in the Vikings' biggest game, in front of a national audience, he simply didn't have it.

Darnold completed 18 of his 41 pass attempts — a season-worst completion percentage of 43.9 — for 166 yards and no touchdowns on Sunday night at Ford Field, taking two sacks in the Vikings' 31-9 defeat. He came into this game having earned a passer rating above 100 in 13 of the first 16 games, putting him one away from tying Aaron Rodgers' single-season NFL record. His rating in this one was 55.5, his third-worst mark this season. Darnold didn't throw any interceptions, which is why his rating didn't drop below previous bad games against the Jaguars and Jets, but he flat-out laid an egg in Detroit.

"Just gotta hit the throws," Darnold said after the game. "It's as simple as that."

So many of his passes were off the mark, which was surprising to see from a QB who has been quite accurate for most of this season. It started on the Vikings' opening possession, when he put a ball out of T.J. Hockenson's reach near the sideline on third down. One possession later, it was another miss of an open Hockenson up the seam on third and long.

What was most damaging was Darnold's inaccuracy in the red zone. The No. 1 thing that hurt the Vikings in this game was a four-possession stretch between the second quarter and the start of the third quarter where four trips to the red zone resulted in six total points. Three of those included first and goal situations from the Lions' 5 or 7 yard-line, which turned into a short field goal and two turnovers on downs. Of those 11 plays inside the 10, nine were passes. Eight were incompletions.

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It was a combination of Darnold missing receivers, perhaps not seeing open targets at times, and having to try to create outside of structure when he didn't feel confident throwing to his initial read(s) and pressure arrived.

"There seemed to be some opportunities," head coach Kevin O'Connell said. "Particularly, chances to maybe put seven (points) on the board. And listen, he's hit a lot of those all season long. Not one of those plays did I call and the outcome of that play change my mentality for Sam the rest of the day. I always believe he's gonna hit the next one. ... We just seemed to be a play away for much of the day. Against a team like that, you're hoping to get seven a few of those times, to try to give yourself a real chance to win it in the end."

Darnold wasn't in his usual sync with any of his top weapons. Justin Jefferson had three catches for 54 yards on nine targets, with four of those incompletions coming in the low red zone. Hockenson had two catches for nine yards on eight targets. Jordan Addison, who appeared to be open a couple times in the red zone, had one reception for zero yards on six targets.

Darnold's postgame message, repeated multiple times, was that he just needed to be more accurate. He didn't think the crowd noise was a factor. He didn't blame the Lions' blitzes or their physicality in man coverage. He was focused on the throws he missed.

"My feet and my eyes, I felt like I was good from that standpoint," he said. "I felt like I made some of the right reads. I missed a couple, but for the most part, especially early on, I felt like I went to the right place with the ball, I just gotta hit the throw."

"I gotta locate the ball a little bit better," he said in response to a different question. "I missed a couple to (Jefferson) in the red zone that I'd like to have back. That's how the game goes sometimes. For me personally, I gotta look at the tape, see my feet, correct everything from a mechanics standpoint. Not look too deep into it, but just get better."

The Vikings will need Darnold to be a lot better eight days from now when they travel west to take on the Rams in the first round of the playoffs. He's been so good this season, but this was a performance reminscent of his early-career struggles with the Jets. If the Vikings are going to make it out of the wild card round, they'll need the 2024 version of Darnold to bounce back in L.A.

His next game will be the first playoff start of his career. Everything is still out in front of Darnold and the Vikings. But if he fails to bounce back with a performance good enough for a win, it'll taint the way his season is remembered — while potentially having a significant impact on his upcoming free agency.

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