The debates on the Vikings vs Rams wild-card game revolve around only one man- Sam Darnold, the Vikings quarterback. The way he performed at the State Farm Stadium has raised eyebrows. Darnold’s play invited a heavy backlash for getting sacked by the Rams nine freaking times! On this note, a former quarterback and Fox NFL analyst has taken a jab at Darnold.

The former NFL quarterback Mark Sanchez appeared on the Dan Patrick Show the next day after the Rams-Vikings game. Sanchez described and imposed many opinions about the Rams game. After praising the Rams QB, he was asked about Darnold. The first thing Sanchez said was, “Well, this is an extreme example.”

After this Sanchez logically pointed out why Matthew Stafford dumped the ball out in the middle of the game and its connection with Darnold. Sanchez said, “When Stafford dumped the ball out,” before the Viking players wanted to sack him, “people were saying, that’s intentional grounding, intentional grounding. But you don’t understand his (Stafford) level of understanding of where all of his pieces are and can get hit at all times, close your eyes, and have that picture in your head. And he (Stafford) just flipped that ball out, knowing you are gonna get the ball where you are supposed to get the ball… I’m not getting sacked. I refuse to take negative plays.”

Basically, Sanchez explained how important it is to not hold on to the ball, grounding the ball and not getting sacked, as it’s not the right thing to happen. QB getting sacked only signifies the vulnerability of the team. Mark Sanchez, in the interview, further exposed Sam Darnold on this issue. He said, “Those kinds of things are where Stafford is operating on an elite level and Sam Darnold is still learning some of those things,” when talking about Darnold’s nine sacks.

If we look at the stats of Sam Darnold in the wild-card game, his QBR rating was just 13.6 only! Besides this, his completion rate was 62.5 after completing 25 out of 40 throws and passing for 245 yards. And we all know how the Rams players sacked Darnold six times in the first half of the game and three times in the second half.

When talking about the learnings of what not to do, Mark Sanchez said, “What are we doing? Go back to our fundamentals. We know when to get rid of the ball, when to hold them when to fold them. Let’s go play some ball. And Sam, you know, unfortunately, he got to continue to learn but…. hell of a year. I just feel bad.” Well, every fan felt to see the Vikings getting eliminated.

After exposing Darnold’s rookie-level understanding of the game, Sanchez also put a light on Tom Brady. He mentioned Tom Brady in the interview but said so many things between the lines.

Sam Darnold lacks where Tom Brady excelled at

Mark Sanchez mentioned Tom Brady while talking about Sam Darnold’s last play in the 2024 season. He said, “So, sometimes when you would see even Payton Manning, Tom Brady immediately catch the ball… boom… It’s not right… either fall down instead of going back another five yards or literally just rifle the ball at somebody’s ankle.” It’s not a surprise that the legend Tom Brady used these techniques to get hit by backers.

Did you know that Tom Brady was sacked only 15 times in the 2016 season? Yeah, that’s right. And even the Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes still doesn’t have this much fewer sacks. And currently, in this season, Sam Darnold has suffered sacks for a staggering 48 times. Yeah, only this season. And this is why Mark Sanchez indirectly told him why it’s important to not get sacks.

So, for this season, the Vikings are over. But they must be looking at changing the pieces that are currently on the board. Sam Darnold has signed a one-year deal with the franchise for 10 million dollars. But after the last game performance, it would not be a surprise if the Minnesota Vikings moved on from Sam Darnold.