Sunday's game against the Detroit Lions couldn't have gone much worse for Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold. Not only did the Vikings suffer a loss that dropped them down to the NFC's No. 5 seed in the playoffs, but Darnold only completing 43.9 percent of his passes for a season-low 166 yards in the contest had a lot to do with the result.
After this weekend's loss to the Lions, Minnesota's starting quarterback talked to reporters about how the outcome was definitely disappointing, but the team still has a great opportunity in front of them.
"Don't get me wrong, losing sucks. But it is what it is at the end of the day. I missed some throws and we lost to a good team. We have an opportunity to go to the playoffs and play another really good team in LA and that's kind of the story from our end."
Sky isn't falling after Minnesota Vikings and Sam Darnold lose to Detroit Lions
Sunday's game certainly didn't turn out the way that the Vikings were hoping heading into the matchup. However, Minnesota still finished the regular season with an impressive 14-3 record, and they now have a chance to redeem themselves in the upcoming 2024 playoffs.
The Vikings' three losses this season only came against two teams; Detroit and the Los Angeles Rams. Minnesota's first attempt at avenging those losses will happen in the opening round of the playoffs next Monday when they face the Rams on the road.
If the Vikings defeat Los Angeles, they could then get the chance to avenge their other two losses to the Lions with a trip to Detroit in the divisional round of the playoffs or the NFC Championship.
As Darnold mentioned in his post-game press conference on Sunday, the loss to the Lions sucks, but it happened, it's over, and now Minnesota moves forward with its goal of reaching the Super Bowl still being something that is attainable.
As Vikings fans should know, nothing about this franchise is perfect. So, don't be shocked if Minnesota goes right ahead and still gets to the Super Bowl as a wild-card team because, for whatever reason, this organization always seems to perform its best when everyone counts them out.