The Minnesota Vikings 2024 campaign came to an end after they collapsed in their wild card matchup against the Los Angeles Rams. Quarterback Sam Darnold's struggles under center played a big role in that outcome, and Vikings fans were not happy with the NFL's social media post about him during the Pro Bowl Games.
While Darnold collapsed at the worst possible time for Minnesota, 2024 was easily the best campaign of his career. Darnold threw for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns (both of which were easily career highs), earning him a trip to the Pro Bowl Games.
On Thursday night, with the games getting underway, Darnold took part in the "Passing the Test" competition for the NFC. The Vikings quarterback put together a strong performance, at one point stringing together six straight throws where he managed to hit a target.
"Six straight! Sam Darnold wasn't missing many targets," the NFL said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, in reference to Darnold's outing.
Considering the way in which Minnesota's season ended, Vikings fans weren't too pleased to see this post, and they flooded the replies with criticisms of their quarterback.
@ArmandisAmazin clearly wasn't too impressed with Darnold's resurgent 2024 campaign, saying that this was "the only time Sam Darnold was elite."
@TinyyTinoSports bluntly said, "Couldn't do this in the playoffs tho," which was likely what the Vikings collective fanbase was thinking to themselves.
@jamjefferson69 believes he knows why Darnold was so successful, suggesting it was because "it wasn't a big game."
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold
© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
With free agency looming, Darnold's future in Minnesota is up in the air, as the team could opt to hand over the starting job to J.J. McCarthy, who they drafted with the 10th overall pick of the 2024 NFL draft.
Regardless of where he ends up, his big numbers in 2024 likely earned him a nice payday, and he will be looking to perform like he did in this Pro Bowl Games competition when he returns to the field in 2025.
