Five extra points: Vikings’ heaviest players get heavy criticism after the Rams shred the offensive line

Fans on social media wanted Jonathan Bullard cut immediately for jumping offsides with the Rams facing fourth-and-1 from the Vikings 10 on Monday night’s opening drive. These eyeballs were more alarmed by the utter lack of a pass rush in a neutral site half-filled with Vikings fans. When Bullard brain-burped offsides — his fifth in the past two years — Matthew Stafford was 5-for-5 with two explosive plays (27 and 23 yards), 59 yards and nary a defender breathing heavy upon him. The first-down gift led to a 5-yard TD flip to an uncovered Kyren Williams en route to a 27-9 wild-card rout in Glendale, Ariz. Stafford had 154 yards passing at the half. He averaged 153 in his last three regular-season games.

You knew it was going to be a rough day when right tackle Brian O’Neill, the team’s best offensive lineman and the third-best right tackle in the league, was overpowered by Byron Young for a sack. It was only the 17th pressure and third sack allowed by O’Neill this year. The onslaught continued for the entire offensive line and Sam Darnold’s ability to sense disguised blitzes. At the 4:35 mark of the second quarter, the Vikings had allowed six sacks in 22 dropbacks for 55 yards in losses. Throw in Jared Verse’s 57-yard touchdown off a strip sack and that’s 112 yards going the wrong way off sacks. Meanwhile, the Vikings’ offense had only 121 yards at that point.

Sorry, offense-loving NFL officials, but what Stafford did while being swallowed up by Jonathan Greenard with 14:09 left in the second quarter should not have been ruled an incompletion. It should have been a sack, a fumble and a game-tying touchdown return by Blake Cashman. Perhaps the officials followed the letter of the rule in that, yes, Stafford flicked the ball forward. And, yes, it was in the general area of a receiver. But, c’mon, his head was down. He was doing nothing more than trying to avoid a sack while in the pocket. It would have changed the game, definitely, but the Rams defense (an NFL playoff-tying nine sacks!) was not going to lose.

This old-school observer has warmed up to the new-school thinking on fourth downs. It makes the game more exciting. But … Kevin O’Connell went too far when he went for it on fourth-and-2 at the 50 with 1:32 left in the first half and the Vikings trailing 17-3. His offense had given up five sacks in Darnold’s first 18 dropbacks. His defense was hanging on for dear life and unable to affect Stafford’s rhythm. That was a terrible combination when Darnold dropped back to pass and was sacked for an 11-yard loss. The Rams needed just 1:21 to move 39 yards for a 24-3 lead. O’Connell started the year 6-for-9 on fourth downs. He fell short on the next four — three against Detroit and the first one when the Rams game was still a contest.

Yours truly tries not to be kneejerk on all things NFL because the league can and usually does change from week to week. Darnold had 13 games with passer ratings of 100-plus, one shy of the league record. He not only ran the offense but made off-script, MVP-caliber plays. He also played well in two of the Vikings’ four losses. But Darnold returning to his dismal pre-Vikings form in the two biggest games of the year — at Detroit with a No. 1 seed on the line and then in his first playoff appearance — means no other player in NFL history has lost more money and respect in a span of eight days than Darnold just experienced. The past two games make it impossible to say the Vikings should invest anything in him beyond another modest offer to compete with and likely back up J.J. McCarthy in 2025.