The Vikings / Lions Game and What Went Wrong

I'm actually a huge NBA guy and though I live in Minnesota and it's my home state, I'll admit I haven't really followed MN sports for a few years. The saga surrounding Quarterback Sam Darnold is a fascinating story and he is a compelling figure, so I started tuning in and paying attention. That caveat aside, here are my thoughts about the Vikings / Lions game. This article is my personal opinion.

Let's state the obvious. Sam Darnold has had an amazing season and the pressure was indeed high for this game. There were a couple of omens ahead of time though and one of them is this: several interviews talked about the head coach Kevin O'Connell taking plays out of the scheme that Sam was not "comfortable" with and that was a red flag to me in some ways. That means opposing teams can literally watch Vikings games and know exactly what 99% of the plays are going to be. Mistake in my opinion. Allow the QB to be uncomfortable and grow his skillset. It's ok. Or at least don't talk about it. Leave it a mystery, right?

I absolutely believe in Sam and think he is the real deal, I'm just going to say that. As for this specific game however, I think the play calling from the sidelines might have put him in some bad positions. Add to that the plays Sam called on his own which probably counted on having more time to make decisions in the pocket. With the pressure of the moment piled on top of this you've got a recipe for disaster if things don't go well.

Let me tell you, things didn't go well. He kept throwing the ball high and missing catchers. I was thinking after the third or fourth pass that maybe a great fear of throwing an interception was creating this situation where passes were overly high. I have seen this guy play for weeks and he is a deadly accurate passer. Something was going on here. The throws were still reasonably good / on target but overly high and the receivers were not able to capitalize on them. Also, the Lions repeatedly pressured Sam in the pocket the entire game and Lions players were draped all over the Vikings receivers in passing situations. Although the Vikes defense was good overall, a Lions player or two managed to get through on almost every possession because of the Lions rushing the pace of the plays. I see this in the NBA all the time. You go faster than the other team is used to and that changes their rhythm. It junks up the game.

The thing that got to me eventually - and I could clearly see this as a spectator and with a tiny bit of sports / football knowledge - is that someone needed to free Sam / encourage him to go Fran Tarkenton on the Lions and simply start running right away after the snap. The Lions were simply not going to allow him to sit in the pocket and wait for an open receiver. About halfway through the second quarter this was obvious. I have seen Darnold repeatedly pass on the run really accurately. The guy is a killer while passing on the run. He's good at it. Unleash this and defenses will have zero answer for it. You can't gameplan for chaos. Also, it seems like he can actually run. Just go for it, you know? Maybe sometimes you tell the coaches to take a hike and you do what the defense gives you.

Maybe the playoff-like pressure, the crazy historic season, the weight of the career decisions ahead for both him and the team got to him. Maybe the coaches were caught off guard by the brilliant play-calling from the Lions side. Sometimes the very smart offensive coordinators and coaches need to see that they need to seriously mix it up and stop trying to stick to "their game". Again, I see this in the NBA all the time. Sometimes, you have to throw the playbook out of the window. The broadcast repeatedly showed the coaches on the Lions side being ecstatic when Sam was either sacked or pressured into throwing the ball away, making a bad pass etc.

I saw one play where there was a gaping hole right in front of Darnold - no defenders in sight for yards. It was a literal alley of nothing leading directly to the end zone. He absolutely would have gotten tackled but who knows? He might have actually made it through the cloud of bodies and to the end zone.

I think Sam is a great Quarterback. I don't think you jettison him. He is so much further down the road than JJ McCarthy. JJ is a good really talented kid - but it will take years before he gets to the experience level Sam has right now. I read somewhere that, historically speaking, NFL quarterbacks enter their prime between ages 27 - 32. Darnold is 27.

I believe this game was part of Sam Darnold's 'level-up' experience. This failure makes Darnold more valuable. Not less. Win or lose, this post season will grind him to a pulp and teach him the lesson all great athletes need to learn.

That lesson is this: Sometimes pro sports is really really difficult. Sometimes you have to push yourself to ridiculous levels you have never been to before. To win at the highest levels - not just during the regular season - you've got to do the things you don't want to do. Run the plays you can't stand but that work. Use your God given natural skills even if at times it doesn't make sense to the "system". (the man can pass really accurately while moving for pete's sake!) Sometimes you have to throw the playbook out of the window and simply figure it out.

There are going to be a lot of naysayers and hate over the next couple of weeks. For Sam, this is par for the course. For whatever reason, the guy has drawn this card out of the deck. Even if they start losing, those history making 14 games don't go away. I think you lean into this. You double down.

For now, I'm glued to the TV / Tablet / Phone to see how all of this plays out. Enjoy the ride, right?