“You know, I clearly just didn’t play good enough the last couple weeks,” Darnold said in his postgame press conference. " [L]eft too many throws out there that I would usually make. Gotta take better care of the football — today, especially.”

If that was the end of Sam Darnold’s tenure with the Minnesota Vikings, he went out with a thud. The Vikings were eliminated from the playoffs on Monday night with a 27–9 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, bringing a surprisingly successful season to a disappointing end.