Sam Darnold’s credibility in playoffs gets called out ruthlessly by Stephen A. Smith after Lions loss

Minnesota Vikings' Sam Darnold became the first quarterback to record fourteen wins in debut season with a team.


Sam Darnold’s credibility in playoffs gets called out ruthlessly by Stephen A. Smith after Lions loss

Stephen A Smith doesn’t trust the newly reformed Sam Darnold (Images via Imago)

On Sunday night, Detroit Lions humiliated the Minnesota Vikings in a lopsided game to secure the NFC top seed and earned a bye round in the postseason. The Vikings as a result hold the first wildcard spot, set to face Los Angeles Rams in the postseason instead of getting one week off.

Amid the Vikings meteoric rise, Sam Darnold has rejuvenated himself after disastrous seasons with New York Jets and Carolina Panthers. Darnold finished the season with 4319 passing yards and 35 touchdowns, ranking fifth in both charts.

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However, the Vikings QB failed to raise up to expectations on Sunday against the Lions when they scored just nine points. Darnold had only 18 completions in 41 attempts for 166 yards with no touchdowns.

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As the Vikings head into the postseason, in a recent episode of First Take, Stephen A. Smith expressed his opinion on Darnold. Smith admitted that he does believe in Darnold’s capability to win postseason games but he isn’t sold on him.

He (Sam Darnold) clearly has had a great season, nobody’s denying that Sam Darnold is having a great season. … Yeah Sam Darnold has the capability to win playoff games, to do some things. The question is do you trust him? Hell no. You can’t say that you trust him with his history and last night, you can’t say the word trust.

Smith said.

In one of the previous episodes, Smith had made wrong assumptions about Sam Darnold. The quarterback had thrown for more than 300 yards twice since the victory over Bears on November 24. However, Smith got it wrong when he mentioned that he hasn’t thrown even once.

He deserves credit. We know he’s had a stellar season, et cetera, et cetera. The man hasn’t thrown for 300 yards since Nov. 24 against Chicago. I’m just throwing it out there. I mean, we acting like — let’s not act like this is the second coming of Dan Marino. … I’m just saying, can we pump the brakes?

Smith commented.

Sam Darnold wants to get over red-zone setbacks after worst performance of the season

The Vikings were overwhelmed in Detroit, suffering a 31-9 defeat. Darnold and the Vikings struggled significantly in the red zone, turning the ball over on downs twice and settling for two short field goals in four trips.

Sam Darnold
(Image via AP Photo)

In a post game interview with the Associated Press, Darnold dived into their inability to score and finish. He admitted that the Vikings cannot exactly play and expect to win against post season calibre teams.

You can’t go out there and kick field goals in the red zone against a team like (the Lions). Our defense played great and kept us in the game, but we didn’t finish when we had the chance.

Darnold said.

The Minnesota Vikings have made the playoffs 24 times since their historic 1976 trip. Despite his worst performance, Minnesota Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell expressed his confidence in the player’s abilities to lead them through. Even Detroit Lions HC Dan Campbell admitted that he expects the Vikings in the Divisional Round.