Darnold and Vikings will look for answers instead of getting a playoff bye

DETROIT — The Minnesota Vikings will have a lot of time to think when they fly to Los Angeles later this week. “You can’t go out there and kick field goals in the red zone against a team like,” quarterback Sam Darnold said. “Our defense played great and kept us in the game, but we didn’t finish when we had the chance.” Cam Akers ran the ball twice inside the 10, but Darnold was the bigger problem. “It looked like Sam missed some throws high, and we’ll look at it this week,” O’Connell said. “Sam has made those throws all season and I’m always going to expect him to make the next one.” Darnold was only sacked twice, but Detroit’s patchwork pass rush overwhelmed the Minnesota offensive line.