Vikings celebrate QB Sam Darnold after key win over Packers - ESPN

MINNEAPOLIS — More than 100 people were waiting in the Minnesota Vikings locker room Sunday evening for one man. Sam Darnold was conducting a pair of on-field interviews after his team's 27-25 victory over the Green Bay Packers, and no one — owners, coaches, players, front office staff members — wanted to begin the celebration without him.

So they waited for Darnold to speak with Fox Sports reporter Tom Rinaldi. Then they waited a few more minutes while Fox Sports analyst Tom Brady awarded Darnold his «LFG» trophy for the game.

«We felt,» coach Kevin O'Connell said, «like we waited for a long time.»

In the meantime, linebacker Jonathan Greenard launched a plan to commemorate Darnold's eventual arrival. They mobbed him as he ran through the door, pouring what linebacker Blake Cashman called «a waterfall of water» over him and eventually lifted him onto their shoulders — all to honor a season that has the Vikings headed to their biggest regular-season game in recent memory.

Darnold smiled throughout his postgame news conference with local reporters, even offering a rare glimpse of his personality by referencing the movie «Talladega Nights.»

«It was mayhem,» Darnold said. «I think I blacked out when [players] grabbed me and lifted me up. I didn't know what to do with my hands in that situation, Ricky Bobby-style. That was an interesting moment but a fun moment to be embraced by your teammates like that.»

The Vikings are now set for a winner-take-all Week 18 game at the Detroit Lions to determine both the NFC North title and the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. None of it would have been possible without Darnold, who signed a one-year contract in March to serve as a short-term starter until rookie J.J. McCarthy was ready to