Kevin O’Connell, Sam Darnold Utterly Flop in the Playoffs

Dec 8, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) celebrates running back Aaron Jones' (33) touchdown run with head coach Kevin O'Connell during the fourth quarter against the Atlanta Falcons at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Coming into the Monday Night Football game, Kevin O’Connell and the Vikings faced all the pressure. At 14-3, Minnesota was coming off of a season where they finished with a +100 point differential, largely due to possessing both a top-ten offense and defense.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Rams finished off the 2024 season with a -19 point differential. Sean McVay’s team had the NFL’s 20th-ranked offense by averaging 21.6 points per game; the defense came in at 17th by allowing an average of 22.7 points against per game. None of that truly matters, though, in the NFL playoffs, which is a single-game elimination format. If the Vikings were going to move onto Philadelphia, then O’Connell’s team would need to fully earn the victory.

Kevin O’Connell’s Vikings Get Eviscerated

Safe to say that the game began horribly for the Vikings.

The Rams began with the football. A calm, cool, and collected Matthew Stafford immediately went to work carving up a Vikings defense that was getting snagged up at the line of scrimmage and in a poor spot in coverage. LA climbed up to an early 10-0 lead, courtesy of the aforementioned poor defense alongside an offense that continued the struggles from Week 18. The opening quarter ended by that score.

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Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Despite some early struggles, Sam Darnold was throwing a crisper ball than in the Lions loss. The end of the 1st quarter moved into the beginning of a 2nd quarter where Will Reichard drilled a short field goal. The score shrunk to back within a single score, 10-3.

The issue is that Minnesota sunk into disaster before the half could conclude.

Darnold held onto the ball far too long far too consistently. The Rams pressured Darnold, getting home a whopping half dozen times in the opening half. Whenever the sack total can match the order term for dinner rolls — a half dozen — things are going poorly.

Even worse, Darnold turned the ball over a pair of times. On one such occasion, the Rams’ defense brought the ball back for a touchdown. Minnesota went into the half down 24-3.

Dec 1, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Arizona Cardinals linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. (2) sacks Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) in the third quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

The wild thing is that Minnesota had to know that this approach was coming. Kevin O’Connell just saw his QB get flustered by all kinds of pressure in Week 18 at Ford Field. Presumably, the emphasis throughout the week would have been on finding solutions to this problem. Whatever got implemented into the game plan didn’t work. LA sacked Darnold a stunning 9 times.

Stafford played a strong game. The veteran went 19/27 for 209 yards and 2 touchdowns. His numbers could have been a decent bit better, but much of the end of the game involved Stafford simply working the clock by handing the ball off.

The contrast between the Rams’ QB1 and the Vikings’ QB1 was striking. The final score — 27-9 — reflects that reality.

The Vikings now move into an offseason replete with questions. When does the O’Connell extension get done? How many years does it cover? How do they proceed with Darnold? Does Brian Flores land a head coach opening? Which of the several notable internal free agents — Aaron Jones, Byron Murphy Jr., Camryn Bynum, Stephon Gilmore, etc. — get brought back? All of these questions, among others, will need answering before too long.

Oct 24, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores watches from the sidelines against the Los Angeles Rams in the first half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The only teams to defeat the Vikings over this past season were the Lions and Rams. Unfortunately, that’s enough to end Minnesota’s year in the opening round of the playoffs.

Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this piece.


K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.