Vikings First Home Opponent Brings All the Narratives
While the Minnesota Vikings will head out on the road to kick off their 2024 NFL regular season, the home opener against the San Francisco 49ers brings plenty of narratives to consider. Sam Darnold will face the team that last employed him, and Midwest favorite Brock Purdy heads to U.S. Bank Stadium.
Vikings First Home Opponent Brings All the Narratives
After a few tumultuous years with the New York Jets and a couple more unprepared seasons with the Carolina Panthers, Sam Darnold finally gets a chance to thrive in a system with legitimate weapons and support. He should be expected to start the season under center for the Minnesota Vikings, and while J.J. McCarthy will eventually take over, Week 2 seems pretty quick.
With the San Francisco 49ers coming to town, Darnold will have the opportunity to immediately best the guy he backed up last season. Working as the second string signal caller to Brock Purdy, Darnold will get a chance to prove himself against the guy that San Francisco has leading them.
Of course, Purdy is widely celebrated in these parts as his story is nothing short of unreal. His ascension has been incredible from Mr. Irrelevant to playing in the Super Bowl. Similar to what Purdy has experienced with the 49ers, it’s not impossible to think that Darnold could be landing in an ideal situation with Minnesota.
The Vikings employ an amazing pair of wide receivers, a talented running back, a legitimate offensive line, and one of the best tight ends in football. Plenty of Purdy’s success has been attributed to the pieces around him, and if Darnold is going to realize any of that in 2024, the same things should be able to be said.
After starting 1-4 last season and losing star wide receiver Justin Jefferson just two weeks prior, the Vikings shocked the San Francisco 49ers with a 22-17 win at home. Kirk Cousins was the quarterback for Kevin O’Connell in that game, and obviously, Minnesota no longer employs his services. To take down a team of the 49ers caliber in consecutive years, and now doing it with quarterback turnover, would be nothing short of impressive for Minnesota.
As an early-season measuring stick, it’s hard not to be excited about what Minnesota could do out of the gate.
Ted Schwerzler is a blogger from the Twin Cities that is focused on all things Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings. He’s active on Twitter and writes weekly for Twins Daily. As a former college athlete and avid sports fan, covering our pro teams with a passion has always seemed like such a natural outlet.
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