Sam Darnold hits NFL Playoffs sacks record in bleak Vikings defeat

The pressure was on Sam Darnold heading into the Minnesota Vikings' Wild Card game against the LA Rams and he endured a tough evening.

Darnold ended the game with nine sacks, levelling the postseason record for sacks. Only two other individual players have suffered nine sakcs in a playoff game, Warren Moon and Joe Burrow. The latter is the only one who achieved this feat bbut still managed to end up on the winning team.

There was no such silver lining for Darnold, who saw his Vikings team dismantled by a relentless Rams defensive display. The game ended 27-9 but the Rams’s superiority was clear by the halftime break.

In the first half alone Darnold suffered two consequential turnovers and was sacked six times in the first two quarter as the Rams raced to a 3-24 lead at halftime. Sam Darnold is the first quarterback this century to be sacked six times in the first half of a playoff game, according to ESPN Research.

Darnold, who now finds himself out of contract, was said to be playing for his future with the Vikings on Monday. He may still be offered a new deal in Minnesota but he may have to get used to the idea that he is no longer a guaranteed starter.

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