Analysis: Sam Darnold isn’t the only Vikings veteran who needs to step it up vs. the Rams

Pardon us. Coming through. Sorry to interrupt the pitch-fork party’s tarring and feathering of the quarterback y’all loved five days ago when he was 14-2 but …

This, believe it or not, is a story about someone other than Sam Darnold who needs to play better against the Rams in the playoffs on Monday night.

Actually, Darnold played extremely well when the Vikings fell to 5-2 in that Thursday night road game at SoFi Stadium. He completed 72% of his passes with a 128.8 passer rating — one of his 13 games this season with a 100-plus rating — and no turnovers in a 30-20 loss.

And, come to think of it, he completed 81.5% of his passes with a 103.5 passer rating in the team’s first loss to Detroit the week before. So, if our math is correct, that means he really only stunk to high heaven in ONE of the Vikings’ three losses. Granted, the nervy 31-9 stinker he hyperventilated through in Detroit on Sunday was a biggie, but if the Vikings are to beat the Rams, Darnold isn’t the only player who needs to step up.

Here’s one much more decorated veteran that these eyes will be watching come Monday:

Stephon Gilmore. Five-time Pro Bowler, two-time All-Pro, 2019 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and one of the first names teammate Harrison Smith mentioned recently when ticking off the reasons he thought back in August that the Vikings were a Super Bowl contender.

“I love playing with Gilly,” Smith, the 29th overall pick in 2012, said about Gilmore, the 10th overall pick that year.

Smith should know. He’s played with his fair share of young corners who were quite the opposite. Some of those corners helped get Mike Zimmer fired. Some of them helped take down Kevin O’Connell’s second season — a 7-10 downer in which the beautiful mind of defensive coordinator Brian Flores was hog-tied by too many corners who couldn’t play man coverage.

Gilmore was the last piece to be added to the puzzle this season. It came hours after Flores had seen Akayleb Evans flop for the final time in a preseason game at Cleveland.

Signing Gilmore and Shaq Griffin are two big reasons the Vikings finished fifth in scoring defense. They aren’t perfect, and they aren’t young, but they’re savvy and they get the job done.

Usually.

When the Vikings went to Los Angeles on that Thursday night in October, they weren’t expecting to face Rams receiver Puka Nacua. Flores admitted this week they didn’t know until four hours before kickoff that Nacua was returning from an injury a week earlier than expected.

While Darnold was going 8-for-8 for 97 yards and two touchdowns after two possessions, the Vikings couldn’t contain Nacua first, then Kupp, and finally Demarcus Robinson, who had the last two touchdowns on his only two catches.

Flores didn’t detail this week what his last-minute adjustments for Nacua were. Looking back at the game, it appears B-Flo was hoping Gilmore would have a better game.

He didn’t. He was too loose and sometimes atypically out of position, whether it was man or zone. And Matthew Stafford, the seemingly ageless gunslinger, made the Vikings pay with one of his best games of the season, completing 73.5% with an 11.8-yard average, a 124.5 passer rating and four touchdowns.

Pro Football Focus accurately labeled it Gilmore’s second-worst game of the season in coverage. His 45.0 grade was lower than all but a 41.9 grade in the Week 17 win over the Packers.

Stafford targeted Gilmore eight times — not all against Nacua — completing six for 98 yards and a 155.2 passer rating, according to PFF. The 98 yards allowed is a season-high for Gilmore.

Stafford looked 25 years old on that touchdown when he spun away from Jonathan Greenard and ducked under Harrison Phillips before firing a 7-yard bullet to Kupp, who had shaken free from Gilmore.

Coach Sean McVay’s schemes also hurt the Vikings’ coverage. One example came with the Rams leading 28-20 and facing third-and-9 from their 20-yard line in the closing minutes.

Nacua motioned right to left toward Kupp and Robinson, who were lined up in a stacked receiver set across from Griffin and Byron Murphy Jr. Gilmore had followed Nacua’s motion, but things got confusing at the snap. Gilmore ended up taking Kupp a step late. He made up ground but got turned around, losing sight of the ball on what became a 27-yard completion, the longest allowed by Gilmore this year, according to PFF.

So, long story short, journeyman Sam isn’t the only Viking we should be expecting better things from. For the Vikings to win on Monday, even the Hall of Fame-worthy cornerback is among those who need to step it up.