Gio’s Vikings were blown out by the Rams in Arizona on Monday night, losing 27-9 to see their surprising 14-win season end with a whimper.
Not surprisingly, Gio was not happy with the effort by Minnesota, particularly Sam Darnold, who was brutal for the second week in a row, this time completing 25 of 40 passes for 245 yards with a touchdown and interception while taking nine sacks in the lopsided defeat.
“Sam Darnold just completely turned into a pumpkin…he completely lost his confidence,” Gio said. “This was a guy that had a lot of scars from the early portion of his career that he seemed to cover up…and then he gets in these big games, and he’s scared. He didn’t trust himself. You could see in his eyes and in his play that he wasn’t ready for this…to play like that is completely inexcusable.”
Darnold earned a Pro Bowl selection for the first time in his career this season, and had one of the best games of his career in a Week 17 win against the Packers before flopping against the Lions with the No. 1 seed on the line before Monday’s disaster. For Gio, Darnold’s look was all-too familiar from his “seeing ghosts” days with the Jets.
“To go from Sam Darnold getting that Poland Spring bath in the locker room to those two performances that he had is just guy wrenching…it just sucks,” Gio said. “It feels like everything they did in that 14-win season evaporates.
“Sam Darnold peed himself in the biggest moment.”