If a fat woman had been singing, Joe Buck certainly couldn't hear her.
A frustrated Vikings team slowly headed to the line of scrimmage, looking lethargic, dejected and in shock as they trailed the Rams by 18 points with 6 minutes, 24 seconds left and were still running the ball Monday. I saw it.
“I think the Vikings realize they're down by 18 points,” Buck said on the television broadcast after Minnesota suffered an embarrassing 27-9 season-ending loss and game time ended. He said this when he allowed the time to shorten to 9 seconds.
“I was thinking the same thing,” Buck's broadcast partner Troy Aikman replied.
Buck seemed frustrated by the Vikings' lack of urgency, adding: They are slow to the line. ”
The Vikings also looked shocked and frustrated at the end of the first half after quarterback Sam Darnold threw a fumble while trying for a touchdown, but shortly after that the defense gave up a loss to Los Angeles. The second quarter ended with careful driving down the field and allowing a score.
The Vikings never settled down, as Darnold had nine sacks throughout the Wild Card race.
Darnold lost 82 yards on those nine sacks, the most in NFL playoff history, previously breaking Bart Starr's dubious 76-yard loss in the 1967 Ice Bowl.
Although the game was likely over, Aikman and Buck could not believe that the Vikings essentially lost.
“We're just looking to see if they're going to speed things up a little bit,” Aikman said after the Vikings got a first down on a fourth-and-1 to the quarterback with less than seven minutes left. , that's actually not the case.” “Minnesota kind of conceded on this one. They're not in a hurry to snap the ball.”
The Vikings headed into an uncertain offseason, winning Darnold by 14 games, but then suffered a blowout loss to the Lions in Week 18 and then went on a tear after being humiliated by the Rams.
Darnold, a free agent, finds himself in a strange position as the Vikings prepare for the return of first-round pick JJ McCarthy, who went down with an injury that required knee surgery.
Previously, Darnold had positioned himself to take on the role given McCarthy's potential outside attention, but the poor end to the season has put his future with the Vikings in doubt.
“The conversation today is different than it was two weeks ago,” Aikman said after the game.
With this win, the Rams head to Philadelphia as the underdogs to the Eagles.
