The Minnesota Vikings went from a Super Bowl contending, 14-game winner playing for the NFC North title with the conference's No. 1 seed and a wild-card bye on the line -- before Week 18's 31-9 defeat by the Detroit Lions -- to an early playoff exit because of a 27-9 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

Sam Darnold played poorly in his final two games of the season, but Vikings legend Chuck Foreman says Darnold did enough to be the Vikings' starter for the future.

Minnesota won 14 games — one off the franchise record — this season but was eliminated in the NFL's postseason opening round. The quarterback took much of the blame.