Sam Darnold: Obviously I haven’t played well enough the last two weeks

The poor performance of quarterback Sam Darnold wasn’t the only issue facing Minnesota over the past two weeks.

But Darnold was a major problem in the Vikings’ Week 18 loss to the Lions and that trend continued in a 27-9 postseason loss to the Rams on Monday night.

“You know, obviously I haven’t played well enough the last two weeks,” Darnold said in his post-game press conference. “(L)is left too many throws that I would normally make. I have to take better care of the football – today, especially.”

The Rams tied an NFL single-game postseason record by sacking Darnold nine times, with the official box score indicating Los Angeles had 12 QB hits on him — though it looked like more. Darnold struggled with constant pressure, completing 25 of 40 passes for 245 yards with a touchdown, an interception, and a game-changing lost fumble that was returned 57 yards for a touchdown.

Darnold said the Rams have a really good plan, but he still feels he should have been able to handle pressure better.

“For me, I’m always going to keep an eye on my progress,” Darnold said. “If I feel people in my face (on the inside) or people coming off the edge, it’s up to me to be able to move and still find a window to throw it. I’m 100 percent responsible for the football and what happens to it. And for me, it’s up to me to be able When I feel it, I either step up, move, run down, or simply throw it away.

“I felt like there were a lot of sacks today that I was responsible for, sticking to the football and taking sacks where I could either foul them up at someone’s feet or just throw them over someone’s head.”

Why didn’t he do that?

“At the moment of the decision, I was trying to get away, and I couldn’t get the ball out,” Darnold said.

So Darnold is now on his way to free agency in March, his one-year deal with the Vikings complete. It’s unclear what the future holds for Darnold, who played well at times in 2024. But he also had games like Monday night’s Week 18 matchup with Jacksonville in which Minnesota had to overcome three Darnold interceptions to win 12-7 with four Field goals.

“Obviously, at the end of the day, all that matters is when you have a good season, what do you do in the playoffs? We didn’t get it done and that’s all that matters,” Darnold said. “I’ll have plenty of time after that to be able to think about what “The season includes it, but to be honest, I just think about today and what I could have done better.”