Sam Darnold was a thorn in the side for the Falcons on Sunday. Fully in command of Kevin O'Connell's offense, he turned Atlanta's mid-major secondary into his own personal playground, throwing for 347 yards and five touchdowns in an unstoppable afternoon.
Sam Darnold is a problem for the world whole NFL this season. He has a passer rating of 108.1 this season, and only Lamar Jackson and Jared Goff have higher efficiency ratings. Darnold has only had two games this season with a rating below 100.
Sam Darnold is a problem for them. minnesota vikings. It's a decision they never expected to have to make in the future, and it's destined to be a franchise-altering choice regardless of which side you end up on. The truth is, there's no good answer as to what Minnesota should do with Darnold, and therein lies the conundrum.
ESPN's Adam Schefter appeared on Sunday morning. nfl sunday countdown He offered insight into behind-the-scenes decision-making and suggested the Vikings appear to be on track to part ways with Darnold.
“Sam Darnold and the Vikings have not had any contract talks, which means Sam Darnold is currently targeting free agency and Minnesota's only quarterback under contract for 2025 is ACL. Only JJ McCarthy is out with a tear.
Schefter went on to say that this was the main driving force behind the Vikings' decision to sign Daniel Jones, convincing another veteran reclamation project that Minnesota was a good landing spot, and giving him some degree in his debut. He said he expected to be given insurance. JJ McCarthy's. This may sound great in theory, but that's assuming O'Connell's offense is so plug-and-play that any quarterback can thrive.
Keep in mind, this was the same organization that was looking to bring Kirk Cousins back for at least one more season while preparing McCarthy to start at quarterback, but Cousins ended up being traded to Atlanta. This means that he is heading to . What makes this interesting is that Sam Darnold is playing at a higher level than Cousins was playing in Minnesota. Cousins' best full season was 2020, and compare that to Sam Darnold's performance this year.
Kirk Cousins (2020): 349 of 516 (67.6%), 4,265 yards (8.3 ypa), 35 TD, 13 INT — 107.4 Rating
Sam Darnold (2024 — expected): 345 of 505 (68.4%), 4,314 yards (8.5 YPA), 37 TD, 13 INT — 108.1 rating
Basically what we're seeing is Darnold beating Cousins. the best The season ends pretty easily in Minnesota. This is an organization with lightning in a bottle, and if it decides to leave it in the air, it better be sure McCarthy can be just as productive from the start, so Without it, it would go down as one of the worst group decisions in recent memory.
A lot of things go into quarterback success, and Darnold found that success with the Vikings. Sure, on some level you could flip that around and say life would be easier if you had Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and TJ Hockenson (and it is), but that's because it would be Kevin It would also completely ignore Darnold's fundamental understanding of what O'Connell needs at quarterback, how to run that system pre-snap, and the determination needed to blossom within it.
Darnold's brilliance pushed the Vikings into a corner. It would have been a lot easier if he had played a middling game on Sunday or been stepped up by Cousins. That way, if Minnesota were to advance, the landing would have been much softer. But that didn't happen. Instead, Darnold set the Falcons on fire, making fans completely forget about the former QB and even thank him for not deciding to come back. While Cousins threw two sad interceptions, Darnold was giving fans the kind of quarterback game they haven't seen since 2004, when Duante Culpepper had five touchdowns.
Don't get me wrong, I'm talking about all the benefits and absolutely no risks. tremendous There are risks here too. Darnold is still 27 years old, even though he's about to reach the bottom of the draft when it comes to quarterbacks. There's a very real possibility that the potential contract could exceed the three-year, $100 million deal that Baker Mayfield signed to stay. buccaneers And if the Vikings decide to keep Darnold, there will be a scramble.
If you're going to get into nine-figure territory, you better be sure your quarterback is really “that guy.” This is especially true when they give up future draft capital in 2024 to move up and select a QB they think will be the future of the franchise. If Darnold re-signs and McCarthy lets his rookie contract expire or demands a trade, that would be a disaster. It would be bad if Darnold turns out to not be the franchise QB he was in his first year. It would be bad if there were everlasting doubts that keeping him was the wrong decision.
For all of these reasons, Sam Darnold is a legitimate problem for the Minnesota Vikings. For now, it's a good problem to have quarterbacks rushing in from everywhere. But if they advance further and make more of the playoffs (or God forbid a Super Bowl), there's no way the front office can happily move forward without Darnold as their quarterback of the future.
This organization is caught in the middle, and there are no good answers.
Winner: Rams' playoff chances
No one's really talking about it, but Los Angeles could be of They will be a dangerous team if they find their way to the NFC playoffs. They're on the back foot right now, but winning a game like Sunday's game against the Bills is the kind of win they need to find a way to win.
With both Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp healthy, the passing offense is as good as ever, and this year's Rams are balanced as Kyren Williams adds a solid wrinkle. has been taken.
Los Angeles has the ability to beat most teams in the NFL in shootouts, which could lead to surprising results in January. All that's left is to win against the opposing team. 49ersJets, Cardinals, seahawks —These are all very winnable games.
Losers: Jaguars and Titans
The Titans were losers because they lost to one of the worst teams in the NFL, and Will Revis was a complete wreck. The Jaguars are the losers, as they may have lost out on the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft without showing anything of note.
This is one of those games that fans might feel good about for a week, but fast forward six months and it will be chalked up as one of the biggest mistakes in the Jaguars' schedule.
Winner: Follow the history of Saquon Barkley
Barkley is getting closer and closer to breaking Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards in 16 games. Barkley is currently on pace for 2,122 yards, and he's on track to surpass Dickerson's mark, which historically took 379 yards to hit, with 346 carries.
We've already discussed why Josh Allen will lose the MVP award despite making history, but Saquon will continue to make history this season. He's the single biggest difference-maker on offense from any position other than quarterback, and that's exactly what he did in Sunday's game against quarterback. carolina panthers This was a surprisingly difficult out for the opposing team.
