GLENDALE, Ariz. – The look on Zygi Wilf's face said all of it. It was as if the owner and chairman of the Minnesota Vikings had just seen a horror movie with a terrible ending. He left the locker room and stood there for a couple of seconds, staring blankly at the gang in front of him. His son Jonathan showed him an extended hallway. And off we went slowly into one other offseason.

How could it end so abruptly? How could a Vikings team with 14 wins go from potential No. 1 seed to loser within the wild card round so quickly? Wilf's thoughts turned to questions like these.

However, none of them were as confusing as this one: What happened to quarterback Sam Darnold?

Two weeks ago, Darnold's Vikings teammates doused him with water bottles as a part of a locker room celebration after a win at US Bank Stadium. Now they were at State Farm Stadium on Monday night, closing their bags and heading to the buses after suffering a brutal 27-9 loss to the underdog Los Angeles Rams.

The dichotomy between the 2 scenes was as stark because it was confusing. In the primary snapshot, it appeared as if Darnold, 27, had made a profession change and ignited a corporation in the method. At second glance, it was fair to wonder how much of Darnold's impressive play this season was a mirage.

“I think it's very important that we all reflect on Sam's work,” Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell said after the sport. “It didn’t work out in the end and I think Sam would be the first to tell you (he could have played better).”

After a loss like this, there are often multiple culprits. The offensive line can also be obvious for Minnesota. The Rams sacked Darnold nine times, tying an NFL playoff record. Additionally, based on Next Gen Stats, 12 Rams defenders generated a minimum of one pressure, essentially the most in a game since Week 6 of 2021.

Hoecht throws up the “LA” after the Rams’ last sack

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Allocating space and draft capital to interior defenders shall be a priority this offseason. O'Connell suggested this on Monday evening.

Still, that concern pales as compared to the importance of what happens at quarterback — and what meaning for every part else — which is why Darnold's loss over the past two weeks is so devastating.

After playing well enough in the primary 16 games to guide the Vikings to a 14-2 record and legit NFL MVP consideration, Darnold struggled within the regular season finale, a 31-9 rout. Defeat in Detroit. Against the Lions, he accomplished just 18 of 41 passes for 166 yards, posting his third-worst passer rating (55.5) and his highest miss rate of the season (34.2).

Those issues continued against the Rams. His numbers — 25-for-40 passing for 245 yards, a touchdown and an interception — belied Darnold's comfort level. He misplaced several throws. Darnold, who has been accurate so often this season, threw behind his receivers. He spun out of the pocket but didn’t release the ball. His eyes often moved too quickly from right to left. His feet kept swinging backwards and forwards. He tried to avoid pass rushers who surrounded him almost each time.

Darnold's system failed in almost every way. If it wasn't his vision, it was his footwork. If it wasn't his vision or his footwork, it was his arm.

“I left too many throws that I normally would,” he said afterwards.

If he had said that earlier in his profession in New York or Carolina, some might need laughed. However, despite being aware of O'Connell's plan and development process this season, he demonstrated in a big sample that he can develop in rhythm, execute the football with precision and withstand pressure.

Darnold also showed resilience, overcoming a difficult midseason stretch against the Colts and Jaguars during which he threw five interceptions. The way he responded to those tough film sessions, throwing 18 touchdowns and two interceptions over the subsequent seven games, showed what he was able to.

end of December, The athleteDianna Russini of 's reported, “After speaking with a team source, one thing is clear: The Vikings want Darnold back in Minnesota for 2025.” Separately, one other Vikings worker wrote, “I hope we can keep him.” Darnold's MVP Opportunities increased. Against the Packers within the team's final home game of the season, he accomplished 33 of 43 passes for 377 yards, three touchdowns and one interception and was subsequently drenched by his teammates within the locker room.

The Sam Darnold experience continues. pic.twitter.com/k5db9DYdtp

— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) December 30, 2024

This 2024 Vikings season, billed as a transition yr to a more flexible future centered around rookie quarterback JJ McCarthy, had exceeded even the rosiest expectations.

“Outside these walls, no one really believed in him,” running back Aaron Jones said of Darnold on the time. “Nobody gave him a chance. But he proves everyone wrong.”

That was the crescendo, a byproduct of an infrastructure optimized along Darnold's model. At the time, the Vikings staff emphasized the role rhythm and timing played in Darnold's success and the importance of his feet and eyes being in sync.

Hidden within the jargon was a very important reality: Darnold trusted the play calls and reads a lot that it was more about sticking to a selected timing than watching the sphere and making decisions based on what he saw. His struggles in Detroit and Arizona were best summed up by a break in timing. Both the Lions and Rams hampered Darnold's ability to maneuver up within the pocket, and each teams mixed countless stunts and exotic pressures to forestall Darnold from becoming comfortable, assessing the image in the sphere, and throwing.

There were quite a few examples from Monday evening. At the beginning of the second quarter, Darnold dropped back and faced the fitting sideline. Rams defensive lineman Braden Fiske pushed Vikings left guard Blake Brandel toward Darnold, who stepped aside and kept a watch on receiver Jordan Addison while receiver Jalen Nailor crossed the sphere openly. Darnold threw a pass in Addison's direction. But the ball was late and behind Addison, and it was intercepted by Rams cornerback Cobie Durant.

Later within the quarter, the Rams attacked safety Quentin Lake from deep. He slipped past right defenseman Dalton Risner, forcing Darnold to step forward and shift his vision from right to left. Unsure of what he saw, he looked back to his right. But before he could release the ball, one other blitzer, Rams cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon, speared him within the back. Darnold fumbled, and Rams edge rusher Jared Verse recovered and rumbled 57 yards for a touchdown, extending Los Angeles' lead.

JARED VERSE SCOOP AND POINT!

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“There are some examples where if you go back tomorrow and look at the tape in an air-conditioned room, you'll think, 'Man, why didn't I just do this or that?'” O'Connell said. “But it’s difficult at the moment. It’s difficult considering how quickly things are happening out there.”

Good quarterbacks have the arm and athleticism, especially in the fashionable NFL, however the mind is what sets the highest quarterbacks apart. Matthew Stafford's operational capability on the opposite side of the sphere confirmed that, and Monday night confirmed a widely held opinion in regards to the Vikings' future: Franchise-tagging or extending Darnold, who is about to develop into a free agent, is mindless for the team's need elsewhere, particularly on the inside of the offensive line.

Of course, one other move toward Darnold would raise questions. How ready is McCarthy? What veteran option could the Vikings pair with McCarthy? And what would O'Connell take into consideration having to construct a completely latest quarterback option?

These are completely different questions than those that went through Wilf's head as he wound his way through the bowels of the stadium on Monday evening. But they’ll soon be on his plate after a wildly successful season that resulted in a disappointing blitz, a rollercoaster ride for a quarterback who couldn't polish the progress he'd made.

With a attack against Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024, the United States experienced one other violent episode in its increasingly polarized politics. Former President Trump, who’s officially set to change into the Republican presidential candidate within the 2024 election, survived the assassination attempt when, as initial reports said, a the bullet grazed his ear. But one demonstrator was killedother bystanders were injured and the suspected shooter can also be dead. The Conversation's political editor Naomi Schalit spoke to University of Massachusetts, Lowell, scientist Arie Perliger after the event. Perliger shared insights from his study of political violence and assassinations. Given the strong political polarization within the US, Perliger said, “it's no surprise that people end up behaving violently.”

Schalit: What was your first thought while you heard the news?

Pearls: The very first thing that occurred to me was that we’re principally just one centimeter away from a potential civil warI consider that if Donald Trump had actually suffered fatal injuries today, the extent of violence that we’ve got seen up to now could be nothing in comparison with what would have happened over the following few months. I consider that may have unleashed a brand new level of anger, frustration, resentment and hostility that we’ve got not seen within the United States for a lot of, a few years.

The attackat the least at this early stage, it’d confirm the strong sense amongst many Trump supporters and lots of people on the far right that they’re being delegitimized, that they’re on the defensive, and that there are efforts to fundamentally prevent them from participating within the political process and stop Trump's return to the White House.

For many individuals on the far right, what we’ve got just seen suits thoroughly right into a narrative that they’ve been constructing and spreading for months.

Political assassination attempts usually are not nearly killing someone. They have an even bigger goal, don't they?

In some ways, Assassinations to avoid the lengthy technique of downgrading and defeating political opponents when there may be a sense that even an extended political struggle is not going to be enough. Many perpetrators see murder as a way That will allow them to realize their political goals in a short time and effectively without having to have quite a lot of resources or quite a lot of organization. If we try to attach that to what we've seen today, I believe quite a lot of people see Trump as a unicorn, a singular phenomenon that in some ways has absorbed your entire conservative movement. So when you remove him, you’re feeling just like the problem shall be solved, or may very well be.

I believe the conservative movement has modified dramatically since Trump was first elected in 2016. Many features of Trumpism at the moment are quite popular in various parts of the conservative movement. So even when Trump eventually decides to step down, I don't think Trumpism – as a set of populist ideas – will disappear from the Republican Party. But I can definitely understand why individuals who see Trump as a threat consider that removing Trump will solve all problems.

In a study on the causes and effects of political assassinationsYou have written that if the electoral process fails to deal with “the most serious political grievances,” electoral competition has the potential to trigger further violence, including the assassination of politicians. Did you see that on this attempted assassination?

Democracy cannot work if the several parties, the several movements, usually are not willing to work together on certain issues. Democracy works when several groups are willing to succeed in some type of consensus through negotiations, to work together and cooperate.

What we’ve got seen over the past 17 years, essentially since 2008 and the rise of Tea Party Movementis that there may be increasing polarization within the United States. And the worst thing about that polarization is that the American political system has change into dysfunctional within the sense that we’re pushing out all politicians and decision makers who’re eager about working with the opposite side. That's one thing. Second, people delegitimize politicians who’re willing to work with the opposite side, thus portraying them as individuals who’ve betrayed their values ​​and their political party. And third, people delegitimize their political rivals. They turn a political disagreement right into a war wherein there is no such thing as a room for cooperation to deal with the challenges they consider the nation faces.

When you mix these three dynamics, you essentially create a dysfunctional system where either side are convinced that it's a zero-sum game and that it's the top of the country. If the opposite side wins, it's the top of democracy. When either side keep drumming into people's heads that losing an election is the top of the world, it's no surprise that individuals will eventually be willing to take the law into their very own hands and use violence.

India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had hoped for a landslide victory within the country’s six-week parliamentary elections – the biggest demonstration of democracyby far, in a yr by which elections were held worldwide. But with the outcomes not due until June 4, 2024, the party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi seemed on the technique to a narrow parliamentary majority.

In order to form a government by itself, the BJP needs 272 seats. If it fails to accomplish that, it’ll must depend on the assistance of its coalition partner, the National Democratic Alliance.

The Conversation US spoke with Sumit GangulyDistinguished Professor of Political Science and Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations at Indiana University, to learn more concerning the election results and their significance for Indian democracy.

The BJP had spoken of a landslide victory, however it looks as if it’ll not get a majority. How do you explain this result?

Part of the reply is that the Modi government has not recognised that The economic advantages were considerabletheir distribution was uneven. India experienced a Increase in inequality And persistent unemployment in each rural and concrete areas. Unemployment amongst 20- to 24-year-olds is at a high of 44.49%. And that's the national total; this data doesn't tell us that things could possibly be much worse in certain regions.

The other explanation is that Modi's exploitation of the historical tensions between Hindus and Muslims seems to have run its natural course. One can beat the religious drum – and Modi did so with rhetoric, including calling Muslims “Infiltrators“- but then on a regular basis problems like work, housing and other necessities of that sort predominate, and these are the things which are most significant to people.

In my evaluation, the BJP made a mistake. It didn’t realise that in a rustic where only 11.3% of kids receive adequate nutritionHindu pride can’t be eaten – ultimately it comes right down to the worth of potatoes and other essential goods.

Let's speak about Uttar Pradesh, the northern Indian state with 80 parliamentary seats. It plays an important role in every national election and Modi and his alliance are prone to lose the state. What happened?

It is one other example of the identical miscalculation that we’re seeing on the national level within the BJP. The state's chief minister,Yogi Adityanathsaw himself as a fiery Hindu nationalist and probably a successor to Modi.

But he too didn’t have in mind the impact of his policies on the poorer sections of the state's population, who’re predominantly Muslims and other people at the underside of India's caste hierarchy.

He pursued great Infrastructure projects like latest highways and airports, and these could have been attractive to the center class – but to not the poor.

In addition, a few years of chairmanship of a state government that Police violence to suppress dissenting opinionsoften the poor and marginalized, have taken a toll on Adityanath's support.

How can we explain the BJP’s success within the southern state of Kerala, where it’s heading in the right direction to make history by winning a parliamentary seat?

The gains within the South are puzzling, and more data on voting behavior are needed for a more detailed evaluation.

Historically, the BJP couldn’t achieve success to the southern states for quite a lot of reasons. These include linguistic subnationalism as a result of hostility towards Hindi.

The other problem within the South is that the practice of Hinduism may be very different, including festivals and other regional traditions. The BJP's vision of Hinduism is predicated on the “great tradition“ from northern India, which believes within the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva as creator, preserver and destroyer gods.

The southern states are also engines of economic growth and ultimately subsidize the poorer states of the north. As a result, there are Resentment against the BJPwhich has long had its political base in northern India.

In July 2023, 26 opposition parties formed a coalition called INDIA – the Indian National Developmental and Inclusive Alliance – to challenge the BJP within the elections. Did they’ve a good likelihood?

No, the starting position was anything but equal. The mass media was largely co-opted by the ruling BJP to push its agenda. Apart from one or two regional newspapers, all national dailies are conscientiously avoid any criticism of the BJPand the most important television channels often act as cheerleaders for presidency policies.

Several secret services are accused of were abused for obviously partisan purposes against the opposition parties. Political leaders have been imprisoned on charges that will prove dubious. For example, Arvind Kejriwal, the highly popular Prime Minister of New Delhi, accused of alleged irregularities involved within the awarding of alcohol licenses and was arrested just just a few days after the election date was announced.

Despite the electoral losses, Modi is predicted to return for a 3rd term as prime minister. Given that the BJP won only two seats within the 1984 elections, the query arises as to what aspects led to the party's meteoric rise.

The BJP has built a solid organisational base across the country, unlike the Indian National Congress, the foremost opposition party. And the Congress Party has done little to revive its political foundations, which had eroded within the Seventies after the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency and a non-Congress government got here to power for the primary time.

The BJP also appealed to the feelings of the Hindu majority population with slogans portraying India's largest minority, Muslims, because the reason for countless social problems. Hate crimes against Muslims and other minorities rose across India lately.

Finally, the BJP also benefited from economic reforms that the previous Congress government had set in motion from the Nineteen Nineties, including a national goods and services tax and the privatisation of the loss-making state-owned airline Air India, which helped significant economic growth in India.

In December 1992, Hindu nationalists demolished the sixteenth century Babri Mosque. How crucial was this to the BJP's rise to power? And what can we conclude from the lack of its Ayodhya seat?

The destruction of the Babri Mosque definitely mobilised a major section of the Hindu electorate and led to a surge in support for the BJP. In 1999 – just seven years after the event – ​​the BJP got here to power for the primary time in a coalition government by which it 182 of 543 seats within the Indian ParliamentTwo national elections later, in 2004, Modi took office as prime minister with a transparent majority of 282 seats.

In January 2024, just just a few months before the election, Modi inaugurated a newly built temple in Ayodhyathe positioning of the Babri Mosque. It was a rigorously staged event with a watch on votes.

However, BJP lost its seat in AyodhyaIt is feasible that each one the joy concerning the latest temple appealed to people outside Ayodhya – but to not the residents of the town, who proceed to Waste mismanagement and other problems.

What's next for Modi? And what do the outcomes tell us about Indian democracy?

It is sort of possible that Modi will form the federal government with coalition partners. I consider that Modi, as a wise politicianwill almost certainly learn from this setback and adapt its tactics to the brand new realities.

The results could also provide a useful corrective: the Indian voter has shown once more that she or he could also be willing to place up with some things but not others.

Indian voters have shown prior to now that once they see democracy threatened, they have an inclination to punish politicians with autocratic tendencies. We saw this when the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi suffered a crushing defeat within the 1977 electionsThe elections followed a state of emergency imposed by Gandhi, which suspended all civil liberties. At the time, it was India's poor who voted them out.

This time, we could have to attend for added electoral data on the voting behavior of certain caste and income groups.

The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris have sparked a debate about whether Muslim female athletes who wear a scarf needs to be allowed to compete.

In September 2023, the International Olympic Committee, which upholds freedom of spiritual and cultural expression for all athletes, announced that athletes participating within the 2024 Paris Games can wear a hijab without restrictions.

However, French female athletes are subject to the strict separation of faith and state, generally known as laïcité. French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said that French female athletes can be banned from wearing a hijab throughout the games in Paris. respect this commitment the principle of secularism.

Human rights organizations argued that such a ban violated the religious freedom of Muslim athletes and perpetuated discrimination and exclusion. The United Nations Office for Human Rights stated that “no one should tell a woman what she should or should not wear.”

This debate highlights the conflict between secularism and the precise to specific one’s religious beliefs. Scholar of European StudiesI’m aware of the impact of secularism on sport, politics and society basically. In my view, secularism, which historically upheld the rights and freedoms of the person, is today increasingly denying minority rights, as will be seen within the ban on French female athletes wearing a hijab on the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Secularism yesterday and today

Before the revolution of 1789, France was an absolute monarchy wherein religion and state were closely intertwined.

The close relations between the French monarchy and the Catholic Church began when King Charlemagne was crowned by the Pope in 800 AD. Over the centuries, the Church became very powerful, owning land and controlling education and healthcare. It formed strong political alliances, with many nobles holding top positions inside the Church.

After the success of the French Revolution and the abolition of the monarchy, the revolutionaries still rejected religion due to its long association with the crown. They viewed the church as a source of injustice in society and wanted to scale back the influence of faith in public life and impose their ideas of freedom, justice and unity.

She nationalized church property and introduced secularism in create a separation between religious and state affairsSince then, France has maintained secularism as certainly one of the basic values ​​of the Republic.

The development of laïcité in France coincides with significant demographic changes within the second half of the twentieth century. As France transformed into a various nation with different religions and ethnicities, including a big Muslim population, the interpretation and application of laïcité faced latest challenges. Millions migrate from the previous French colonies in North and West Africa looking for economic opportunities, France today hosts the biggest Muslim community in Europewhich represents about 10% of the population. This demographic change has sparked debates concerning the role of faith in public life and the extent to which secularism should take religious diversity into consideration.

While laïcité was originally introduced together with principles resembling freedom and equality, its meaning has modified over time. Originally, laïcité meant separating religion from the state. Recently, nevertheless, it has often been interpreted to mean that residents should refrain from show their religious identity in public.

This change has led to bans on religious symbols in public schools and public places, which disproportionately affect Muslim women who wear a veil.

A debate concerning the Olympics – and beyond

Activists and students argue that today’s laïzité represents a threat to each human rights and spiritual freedomIn their view, it promotes a narrow view of republican values ​​and national identity, rejects diversity and unfairly attacks Muslim women who wear the headscarf.

Laïcité will be seen as discriminatory since it often considers Christian customs only as a part of on a regular basis culture, while deals with visible signs of other religionsresembling the hijab worn by some Muslim women, are considered unacceptable. This signifies that Christian symbols and traditions are more easily accepted, but non-Christian ones are sometimes not allowed.

It can also be essential to notice that Christian traditions focus totally on beliefs which can be private, while Islamic and Jewish traditions emphasize practices that resembling wearing headscarves which can be visibleThis signifies that secularism affects people in another way and is commonly more directed against visible signs of a non-Christian religion.

A 2023 survey showed that just about 80% of French Muslims imagine that their country’s secular laws are discriminatory. Studies show that Laïcité disproportionately affects Muslim girls from marginalized communities, perpetuating social inequalities. For example, the ban on headscarves in schools forces Muslim girls to make a choice from their education and their religious beliefs, resulting in feelings of exclusion and isolation. These policies also can affect their academic performance and private development, limiting their future opportunities.

Hijab ban for players

French Muslim athletes have long faced challenges on the sector. For example, in 2023, the French Football Federation decided not to regulate meal and training times during Ramadan, regardless that it fell during a non-competitive break.

This decision effectively prevented Muslim players from fasting and led to notable departures, resembling the departure of Lyon midfielder Mahamadou Diawara from the French U19 training camp. Other French players also left French skilled sport. Basketball player Diaba Konate also decided to pursue their profession within the USA due to French ban on wearing the hijab.

In 2004, France banned religious symbols in public schools, including hijabs, Jewish kippahs, Sikh turbans, and huge Christian crosses.

The non-profit organization Human Rights Watch criticized the ban as an unjustified restriction on religious practice. In 2010, France prolonged the ban to face-covering head coverings in public spaces, including the burqa and niqab, garments worn by some Muslim women that cover the face and body. Last 12 months, France banned the abaya in schools.

A ban on cultural pluralism?

The hijab debate goes beyond sport and touches on broader questions of identity and belonging in multicultural societies. For many Muslim women, the hijab is just not just clothing – it’s an expression of spiritual identity and self-determination.

A ban on the Olympic Games could viewed as a restriction of their freedom of expression And they’re denied the precise to completely take part in social life while remaining true to their religious and cultural background.

France's ban on religious symbols at official sporting events underscores the struggle to balance religious freedom with national values. This becomes particularly complicated on the Olympic Games, where athletes' individual expressions collide with their role as representatives of their countries.