Vikings built a fortress around Darnold

[purplefaithful]

The story of the game maybe how well the OL handled their pass rush stunts & twists, a welcome sight for longtime fans. The fudge had been very successful w/ their rush coming in.

Quarterback Sam Darnold had “phenomenal” protection against the Packers, O’Connell said.

The numbers check out. Darnold was one of three passers in Week 17 to throw for over 300 yards and three touchdowns from a clean pocket, according to Pro Football Focus, joining the Buccaneers’ Baker Mayfield and the Bengals’ Joe Burrow. Darnold was kept clean on 30 of his 44 dropbacks.

The one sack he took is the fewest allowed by the Vikings since the Nov. 10 win in Jacksonville. A quicker passing game also helped. Darnold’s 2.86-second average time to throw was his fastest since the Nov. 3 win over Indianapolis.

After surrendering some quick pressures to Packers blitzes, including one by safety Xavier McKinney on third down in the first quarter, the Vikings offensive line improved as they played.

“These [defensive] coordinators are good,” center Garrett Bradbury said. “As the season goes, it’s all about making adjustments. It’s putting in a new protection or changing the rules of a protection. But as long as we’re all on the same page and we get the right checks, we’re confident we can keep Sam clean.”

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As Darnold was being hoisted onto his teammates’ shoulders in the Vikings locker room, team cameras captured O’Connell standing off to the side with a smirk as he watched everyone celebrate.

“I tried to stand all the way up against the wall, but they still got me [on camera],” O’Connell said. “It’s obviously for Sam. ... Sometimes this thing goes so fast and you’re so caught up in the 1-0 aspects of things and the day-to-day, the minute-to-minute, this adjustment and this coverage. For me sometimes, I don’t really feel a lot of those things until a moment like that.”

“It’s everything you work towards, with a goal in mind of a lot of little, little things, a million little things you think about coming together in that moment,” he added. “I was just proud of the guys and of course for Sam, I thought it was awesome.”

[MaroonBells]

Yeah, why does he say "sacks" like he's a teen girl describing her favorite store. Reminds me of the vid below.

[StickierBuns]

Uncle Sammy is a good sized dude, 6'4", 225 lbs. strapping guy. Strong base. He leaned out a year or so ago and it suits him. Tough as nails.

[Vikergirl]

Yeah, why does he say "sacks" like he's a teen girl describing her favorite store. Reminds me of the vid below.

It's funny. Watching the replay he cracked me up when he was talking about a dirty dancing moment with a lineman lifting Darnold up. I really don't have the beef with Brady's commentary that others do. It was funny when Sam was trying to get Tom to say what the F in his LFG award. I don't know whatever, to each their own. Sometimes it takes time to learn and develop your style of commentary

[StickierBuns]

Good Morning Football
@gmfb
"The awesome part about Sam Darnold's breakout season is how unbelievably clutch he's been. He's had five fourth-quarter or Overtime game-winning drives in November and December, and last week, when they needed it most, Kevin O'Connell didn't opt to run the ball. He had Darnold throwing the ball to secure the @Vikings win over Green Bay." -
@Pschrags

[Montana Tom]

Reflecting back on the game, that interception was a big margin on the narrowing the score. Had we gone in for a score, that would have been a 10-14 point swing. Had we converted both of those field goals, that would have added six more.

We cannot afford to make those kind of mistakes on Sunday evening. The Lions are better than the Packers.
We pretty much have to play error-free football to win.

[Padre]

Reflecting back on the game, that interception was a big margin on the narrowing the score.  Had we gone in for a score, that would have been a 10-14 point swing.  Had we converted both of those field goals, that would have added six more.

We cannot afford to make those kind of mistakes on Sunday evening.  The Lions are better than the Packers. 
We pretty much have to play error-free football to win.

It is that time of the year.  That needs to carry into the playoffs.  If anything, this is a good warm up game for that.