Sam Darnold experienced a debacle against the Detroit Lions. The hype surrounding the Vikings quarterback and the calls for a top-level contract are getting out of hand – a commentary.

The Minnesota Vikings failed in their bid for the NFC crown and thus a bye to the start of the playoffs, crashing 9-31 against the Detroit Lions.

Particularly the previously impressive quarterback Sam Darnold experienced an evening to forget. A meager 18 completed passes in 41 attempts for 166 yards and no touchdowns with a passer rating of 55.5 were on the board.

The 27-year-old showed his weakest performance of the season at the worst possible time. After the interplay with his wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison had worked almost like a dream in the previous weeks, the fans and obviously also those involved themselves could hardly believe their eyes in Week 18.

Darnold looked unsure, missed wide-open windows for his passes several times and, on four drives into the opponent’s red zone, produced one incompletion after another. According to ESPN Research, the quarterback missed his targets eight times in the first half alone – an abysmal figure.

Before the game, a showdown between two evenly matched 14-2 top teams was expected to produce plenty of points on both sides, but Darnold completely disappeared at the crucial moment of the game so far.

His performance is likely to raise acute concerns among the decision-makers, given that the Lions have allowed at least 34 points in three of their last four games. Such problems against one of the most vulnerable passing defenses in the league do raise some questions.

NFL: Sam Darnold falls back into old Jets patterns and is ridiculed

On social media, the scorn and ridicule were correspondingly great. This Darnold was reminiscent of the version from his thoroughly disappointing time with the New York Jets, who had taken him with the 3rd pick in the 2018 draft.

The end of the story is well known. He was only able to meet the high expectations far too rarely and was shipped from the franchise to the Carolina Panthers in 2021. Via the detour of the San Francisco 49ers in the preseason, the umpteenth attempt was to be made in Minnesota to turn around the career of the former top talent – and how!

Darnold impressively silenced his critics, settled in remarkably well with the Vikings and with unusual ease. By the Lions game, he had thrown 18 passing touchdowns and only two interceptions in the previous seven games.

Accordingly, the franchise was caught off guard by Darnold’s slump at the end of the regular season, which also does not fit into the current prevailing image. It must be said: the praise came too early!

Sam Darnold: Demand for mega contract is premature

Actually, Darnold only served as a stopgap for the new franchise hope J.J. McCarthy, who was signed in the first round of the past draft and missed his first year in the NFL due to injury.

However, the former top pick silenced the calls for the youngster to return sooner as the season progressed. His development in the offense under head coach Kevin O’Connell was too promising, and it quickly made up for the departure of Kirk Cousins in the offseason. A real hype arose, which has now been dampened.

Various US media outlets had previously reported that the playmaker, who will become a free agent after the season, could receive between $40 million and $50 million annually in his next contract. This would put him in the ranks of the league’s highest-paid quarterbacks – but after just one promising season, this would be premature.

The harsh beating against the Lions was an impressive demonstration that a multi-year contract in this salary range would be too big a risk for the Vikings, despite his strong numbers during the regular season so far. Such a daring move has been painfully regretted by other teams in the past.

The Los Angeles Rams, who will face Minnesota in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs, will have watched very closely how Detroit caused major problems for the offense and especially for Darnold.

Should the Vikings once again be clearly outplayed or lack any efficiency around the opposing end zone, the Darnold resurrection could come to an abrupt end – if that hasn’t already happened.