Film Study: The destruction of Darnold

How much of the Vikings' brutal loss was on the quarterback's shoulders?

© Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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By Matthew Coller

I know what you’re thinking: You would prefer to never speak of this football game again, much less re-live the worst moments on tape. While that’s totally understandable, the All-22 tape was revealing when it came to the explanation for what went wrong for quarterback Sam Darnold. So let’s have a look at the issues against the Rams and what we can learn from them…

We begin on the first drive where it was already clear that there were going to be struggles along the offensive line versus one of the bets D-lines in the NFL. Darnold is flanked in the backfield by Aaron Jones and Justin Jefferson and the play calls for Jefferson to run an out route from the backfield and Jordan Addison to create space for him.

Right away you see that the Rams had zero fear of the Vikings running against them. This was second-and-11 and they lined up everybody on the outsides and put extra bodies in the gaps like what you would normally see on third-and-long. They only end up rushing four but they played very physically with Hockenson just like the Lions did last week and he wasn’t able to escape the man coverage the way he has at times in the past.

As tremendous as Brian O’Neill was all season, he did not have a favorable matchup and he gets pushed back into Darnold’s lap. Had Darnold been given time, he likely would have seen Jefferson breaking open to the outside. Instead he had to move in the pocket away from the pressure and had no place to escape or step up. It’s also possible that if he had any space at all, he might have tried a deep shot down the left side to Jalen Nailor.

But that doesn’t completely absolve Darnold. The end zone angle shows that he is looking to his right and could have stayed with Jefferson for another tick and thrown with anticipation for the completion, as we have seen many times this year. Still, that’s a tough ask with the pressure.

Side note: The end zone angle also shows a clear illegal hands to the face that wasn’t called.

Our next play is a perplexing one. The Vikings run a quick comeback to Jefferson where the two receivers on the outside are blocking for him and Darnold just… doesn’t throw it. It’s very possible that it’s a screen-and-go play where he’s supposed to fake it and then throw to Nailor or turn to the other side where Addison is one-on-one but it’s bizarre to watch Darnold looking at Jefferson wide open and not just flinging him the ball. It might to Darnold being sped up again, just like he seemed to be against Detroit.

When Darnold has had trouble seeing plays downfield or processing throughout the season, he was able to scramble and make plays with his legs. But both tackles get pushed back into him again and the defensive tackle beats Dalton Risner and he can’t step up either. If he had been able to move forward, it’s possible that he might have had Nailor come open.

The next disaster is likely about Sean McVay understanding how KOC’s offense works. With a condensed split, the Rams know that the cornerback blitz is really hard for an offense to counter because the corner is close to the QB. They also know that play-action takes time to develop with the QB turning his back to the defense and it seems that they called the blitz based on a tendency. They also cleverly sent a blitzer off the other side to draw the RB’s attention. Free runner, no chance for Darnold.

You’ll notice that Jones isn’t the only one who didn’t spot the corner blitzing free but the Rams rushed the edge inside and O’Neill followed, leaving nobody to touch the CB.

In terms of answers, O’Connell tried to dial up a screen pass to catch the Rams being aggressive in the box and leaving only two defenders over three receivers on the outside. It was the perfect call by KOC and bad execution by Nailor. This may have been a situation where Trent Sherfield needed to be on the field because the Vikings are one block away form an explosive play but Nailor can’t get his hands on the corner and he makes a terrific play.

If you are wondering, Darnold finished the season with just 358 yards on screens at 5.4 yards per attempt.

Our next play is definitive about Darnold’s timing. Dozens of times this year, Darnold has thrown with really good anticipations where we have frozen the tape and seen him leading wide receivers to the sidelines before they are even out of their breaks. Well, he was not trusting himself in this game. Darnold actually gets good protection and Addison has a one-on-one matchup on the outside. He’s looking at it and doesn’t release the ball until Addison has already come out of his break, making it easy for the corner to read and react. Had Darnold throw the ball to the same place but a tick earlier, it’s an easy pitch and catch.

There are always things we don’t know, like whether Addison had the right depth or if the rusher over O’Neill caused Darnold to short-arm his throw but it’s clear that the ball needed to get out earlier.

This one might be where you need to avert your eyes. Even as rough as the start of the game was going for the Vikings, they were still in the game as they approached halftime. That’s until Darnold was strip-sacked and it was run back for a touchdown by Jared Verse. What happened here was something we saw beat the Vikings on a number of occasions this year where either a corner or linebacker blitzes from depth. The corner gives no indication that he’s going to rush based on where he’s standing and then surprises Darnold. Had he known the blitzer was coming, he would have easily dumped the ball to Hockenson for a solid gain. The Rams again distracted the running back by showing an obvious blitz from the other side. Hockenson did not hit the corner hard enough to slow him down, Darnold didn’t pull the trigger on his first look, which might have been Addison considering there was a blitz from that side of the field and then… bang.

Not only was it a perfect storm rush plan by the Rams, it was the perfect moment to hit Darnold, the perfect bounce and a player with a ton of speed who couldn’t be caught from behind.

Onto the next couple plays where Darnold was given no options...