Sam Darnold reflected on his struggles towards the end of the season, particularly in key losses to the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams. The veteran quarterback, who joined the Seattle Seahawks, highlighted his lessons learned from previous experiences playing with the Minnesota Vikings during the 2024 NFL season.
Throughout the upcoming season, it will become clear whether the Vikings will miss Darnold, who, just as he seemed to find stability in his career, decided to move to Seattle to continue his future with the Seahawks. However, the 27-year-old quarterback has not forgotten the significance of his last postseason.
The Vikings lost to only two teams last season: the Lions and the Rams, coincidentally in the most important games of the year. While 2024 is in the past, Minnesota came close to securing the top spot in the NFC. Who knows what could have happened if the game in Detroit had ended differently, but Darnold has closed that chapter.
Darnold’s honest admission about losing with Vikings
“You get all the way to that point, and you have the season that we had offensively as a team, and at the end of the day only one team can win the Super Bowl. Unfortunately we weren’t that team. But I learned a ton from those last two games, especially, playing Detroit and playing L.A,” Darnold admitted, according to NBC.com.
“We are going to see L.A. twice a year, obviously, playing in this division and really looking forward to that. It’s just continuing to learn. Learning things about yourself, what they did schematically, and yeah, that’s basically all you can do is just learn from those experiences,” he said.
Darnold’s arrival at Seahawks signifies new cycle
Darnold wants to leave last season’s struggles behind and focus on his new team. The Seattle Seahawks signed the former Minnesota quarterback to a three-year, $100.5 million contract, including $55 million guaranteed. This decision came after Geno Smith was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders, leaving the starting quarterback position in Seattle vacant.