Kevin O’Connell appreciates Sam Darnold, but says ‘it didn’t work out in the end’

Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said after Monday night’s loss to the Rams that quarterback Sam Darnold has a “special place in my heart” because of the way he has played this season. But he acknowledged that Darnold was not good enough in the closing games of the season.

“I just want to say it’s very important that we all think about Sam’s work, what he was able to do this year, when a lot of people didn’t think he was going to be able to lead the team to 14 wins,” O’Connell said. “It didn’t work out in the end, and I think Sam would be the first to tell you, could he have played better tonight? I’m sure he’ll tell you he could have. Could I have coached better? I’m sure I could have had that.” .

For most of the season, Darnold was excellent, playing the best football of his career. But the last two games were a 31-9 loss to the Lions in the regular season finale, and Monday night’s 27-9 loss to the Rams in the wild card round of the playoffs. In those games, Darnold repeatedly wilted under pressure. O’Connell said it wasn’t all on Darnold, but the offense wasn’t good enough in the two biggest games of the season.

“Too many negatives. “In fact, over the last couple of weeks, there have been a lot of negative plays that make you fall behind,” O’Connell said.

O’Connell said he was proud of the season the Vikings had, even when they ultimately fell short.

“Very tough feeling in this locker room right now,” O’Connell said. “This team did a lot of special things this year, but we didn’t play well enough to win this football game,” he added.

Now the Vikings have a big season ahead of them — with Darnold going to be a free agent, first-round pick JJ McCarthy being healthy, and the team will have a big decision to make at quarterback.