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What We Learned About the Minnesota Vikings in Devastating Blowout Loss vs Detroit Lions
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- What We Learned About the Minnesota Vikings in Devastating Blowout Loss vs Detroit Lions
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It took nine-straight Minnesota Vikings wins to get to where we were on Sunday night against the Detroit Lions , but their first regular season conference title, a No. 1 seed, an first round bye and home field advantage was all in front of the Vikings in week 18 .
All they had to do was win on Sunday night. But that's often a task that is easier talked about than completed, especially against the Lions. Unlike Minnesota, Detroit was crowned as the NFC North victor by just about every pundit on the planet. And they have performed as advertised, even with half of their roster missing with injuries.
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Entering this 2024 regular season finale, though, no team in the NFL was hotter than the Minnesota Vikings . As long as Sam Darnold was able to handle the pressure of a moment bigger than anything he has been apart of in his football career… how would a depleted Detroit Lions team keep up, right?
What We Learned – Minnesota Vikings vs Detroit Lions (Week 18)
Then, as often happens… the game started. And instead of a shootout between two of the highest powered offenses in the league, we got a defensive slugfest for the first three quarters, in a game the Vikings failed to score a touchdown in.
Credit: Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
No, the Detroit Lions defense wasn't THAT dominant. Instead, tonight's scoring issues were very much due to the Minnesota Vikings' own ineptitude and a failure to take advantage of key opportunities. So, here is what we learned in a 31-9 beatdown at the hands of the Detroit Lions.
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Sam Darnold couldn't handle the pressure of the moment
It's been an incredible season for Sam Darnold. there is no denying that. We're talking about a dude that everybody had written off, entering 2024, and he finished the year as a top 5 MVP candidate, throwing for 4,300 yards, 32 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions.
He was a baller and next season, the USC alum will be rewarded with a contract in the range of $35-$45 million per season. But tonight, Sam was anything but spectacular. It started early. The 27-year-old red rifle looked shaky, overthrowing receivers left and right, including Justin Jefferson on multiple touchdown opportunities.
Then, there were moments like this when Darnold just didn't throw to wide open receivers, like this pick slant designed for Jordan Addison . It was a great play and Addison had a walk in touchdown… had Darnold thrown it.
Sam Darnold doesn't throw to a wide open Jordan Addison
This was designed for Addison all the way. Nailor took his defender out the play… Darnold just didn't throw it
This is very very bad pic.twitter.com/SfYMDo4ffT— Joel Moran (@joelvmoran) January 6, 2025
Sam Darnold has looked AWFUL so far today… pic.twitter.com/akRw1EL2hi
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 6, 2025
Sure, the Minnesota Vikings offensive line struggled to keep the pocket clean for much of tonight's contest. But had Sam Darnold hit on some of these routine throws, the Vikings would have jumped out to an early lead and this game would have looked a lot different.
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Related: Kevin O'Connell Trade Rumors…? Multiple Teams Interested in Minnesota Vikings Head Coach
Instead, he missed them… a lot of them. And in the end, this was one of Sam Darnold's worst performances of 2024, both on paper and via the eye test. On the night, Darnold went 18-of-41 (44%) for just 166 yards, 0 touchdowns and a QB rating of 55.5.
And that led to the biggest blowout loss of the season, a 31-9 beatdown that now sets the Minnesota Vikings up for a Wildcard road game next weekend against the LA Rams , the only other team (and location) that the Vikings have lost against.
Kevin O'Connell couldn't handle the moment
I don't think this should make Sam Darnold feel any better, but he wasn't the only guy who crumbled under the pressure tonight. His head coach Kevin O'Connell rode the struggle bus too. The Minnesota Vikings turned the ball over on downs twice inside the 5-yard-line tonight, leaving an easy 6 points off the board.
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Then, with a kicker who clearly isn't feeling right, O'Connell decided to kick a field goal from 51 yards out, on 4th and 3. It landed in the right corner of the endzone. The Lions then got the ball at their own 41 yard line, where they proceeded to drive 59 yards and the second of Jahmyr Gibbs ' four rushing touchdowns. He added 23 carries and 139 yards, too.
ERRRROU!
Will Reichard erra o FG de 51 jardas.
📺 Assista Vikings x Lions ao vivo na @ESPNBrasil pic.twitter.com/ORKgkj2WJq— NFL Brasil (@NFLBrasil) January 6, 2025
We'll see if tonight's blowout loss changes anything with what appeared to be an NFL Coach of the Year lock, for Kevin O'Connell. But in week 18, our head coach showed an inability to adapt to his game day surroundings.
Related: Minnesota Vikings Week 18 Practice Squad Elevations Curiously Elude New QB…
He didn't realize his quarterback had a case of the yips until it was too late, and then he trusted his kicker when he shouldn't have. If KOC makes better decisions in those moments vs the Lions, Sunday night would have looked a lot different.
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Minnesota Vikings refused to seize opportunities vs Detroit Lions
At the end of the day, we can't blame Sunday's loss on only Sam Darnold and/or Kevin O'Connell. They played a huge part in the Minnesota Vikings week 18 downfall, for sure, but this loss was about the Vikings inability to seize the moment.
Any time they were presented with an opportunity to take hold of the game or climb their way back into it, Sam missed a wide open receiver or Andrew Van Ginkel dropped a pick-6 interception that wasn't necessarily easy… but undoubtedly was right there in his hands.
. @nyjets fans had London Games flashbacks with this one!
Andrew Van Ginkel ALMOST had the pick 6 🤏 pic.twitter.com/1VS7fBov1M— NFL UK & Ireland (@NFLUKIRE) January 6, 2025
It was like we were watching the early season 2023 Vikings all over again, when no matter how well they played, they couldn't stop turning the ball over. Different problem, same type of feeling. That in the most crucial moments, things were always going to go wrong. That is not a feeling we have dealt with a lot during 2024.
