Kevin O’Connell Points Out Sam Darnold’s “Body Of Work” But Admits “It Did Not Work Out In The End”

In the immediate aftermath of the Vikings’ shocking 27-9 upset loss to the Rams to close out wildcard weekend, Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell made it a point to give QB Sam Darnold credit for how well he played in the first 16 games of the season. 

That’s notable because Minnesota faces a big decision on how to handle Darnold’s expiring contract this offseason. But O’Connell also couldn’t shy away from how Darnold’s regression in the last two games doomed the Vikings and ended such a promising season. 

“I just want to say it’s very important that we all think about Sam’s body of work, what he was able to do this year, when not very many people thought he would be able to lead a team to 14 wins, which is rare,” O’Connell said via ESPN’s Kevin Seifert. “The way he came in, committed himself to just a daily process to be the best version of himself.

“It did not work out in the end. I think Sam would be the first one to tell you. Could he have played better tonight? I’m sure he would tell you he could have. Could I have coached better? I promise you I could have. Could our team have rallied around a play here and there to keep it close? For sure.”

The common thread in Minnesota’s last two losses of the season — in Week 18 to the Lions with the No. 1 seed on the line and in the playoffs to the Rams — was a major regression by Darnold. He took 11 sacks combined in those two losses, nine against Los Angeles to tie the playoff record, threw just one touchdown, turned the ball over twice and struggled with accuracy, completing just 53 percent of his attempts. 

O’Connell said the sacks in particular were killers for Minnesota. 

“You’ve got to find a way to check the ball down and just keep moving the ball forward,” he said. “Completions have negative effect on defenses. They just do. Those moments when you’re holding that ball, and your reaction is try to make a play.”

“It’s up to me to be able to feel that and either step up, move, go run for a first down or just simply throw it away,” Darnold agreed. “I felt like there were a lot of sacks that I was responsible for, where I was just holding onto the football and taking sacks where I could have dirted it at someone’s feet or simply thrown it over someone’s head.”

The flop to end the season will almost certainly impact how things proceed between the Vikings and Darnold. There had been growing optimism as the season had progressed that Minnesota would find a way to keep Darnold in 2025 after initial skepticism, whether due to the presence of first-round QB J.J. McCarthy or the possibility of Darnold playing his way out of Minnesota’s market. 

All options still theoretically remain on the table but the loss leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. 

“Obviously at the end of the day, all that matters when you have a good season is, ‘What do you do in the playoffs?'” Darnold said. “We didn’t get it done today, and that’s all that matters.”

Darnold, 27, is a former first-round pick of the Jets back in 2018. He was in the final year of a four-year, $30.370 million rookie contract when he was traded to the Panthers. 

Carolina exercised Darnold’s fifth-year option for 2022 after acquiring him from New York. He made a base salary of $18.858 million in 2022 under the option. 

Darnold was an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career when he signed a one-year, $4.5 million deal with the 49ers in 2023. He joined the Vikings this past offseason on another one-year deal. 

In 2024, Darnold appeared in all 17 games for the Vikings and completed 66.2 percent of his pass attempts for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He added 67 carries for 212 yards and a touchdown. 

We’ll have more on Darnold and the Vikings quarterback situation as the news is available.