The Vikings won 14 games often through Sam Darnold’s arm this season. Yet on the biggest stage so far, Darnold’s arm fell flat during Sunday night’s 31-9 loss to the Lions. Players and coaches say the critiques should begin with their failures in the red zone,

Darnold played poorly on Sunday night against the Lions. His resilience will determine the Vikings' postseason fate in the coming weeks.

During the first few seasons of his NFL career, former USC QB Sam Darnold went viral for all of the wrong reasons. There was his first ever NFL pass being a pick six. There was the graphic of him being out with mononucleosis.

As the Vikings immediately started the process of turning the page following a 31-9 loss to the Detroit Lions, Kevin O’Connell made his way toward the 50-yard line to shake hands with his counterpart Dan Campbell.

Detroit’s defense sent a ton of six- or seven-man pressures and played mostly man coverage. Can the Rams replicate that in the playoffs?

DETROIT - After the Vikings’ 31-9 loss to the Lions on Sunday, center Garrett Bradbury and fellow offensive linemen debriefed inside the visitor’s locker room about just how aggressively Detroit’s defense played while grounding quarterback Sam Darnold and Minnesota’s prolific passing attack.

The Lions’ relentless defense left Sam Darnold scrambling in his most challenging game this season, highlighting vulnerabilities in Minnesota’s offensive line and strategy.