Vikings Have One Built-in Advantage This Week
The Minnesota Vikings aren’t supposed to defeat the San Francisco 49ers this weekend, pegged by sportsbooks to lose by five or six points.
Vikings Have One Built-in Advantage This Week
And that’s after the purple team spanked the New York Giants by 22 points last Sunday. Still, oddsmakers believe the 49ers are an entirely different beast, even if the same 49ers lost to Minnesota at U.S. Bank Stadium 11 months ago.
However, to stifle betting odds, Minnesota might have one built-in advantage for Week 2 — quarterback Sam Darnold.
Why? Well, Darnold played for San Francisco a season ago and practiced against Kyle Shanahan’s defense for the entirety of 2023. Put plainly, he knows these guys. They’re not a foreign entity to him.
Darnold said this week about his time as a 49er: “Just being able to learn how they do things over there — not only schematically, but just as an organization. It was great to be able to be a part of [it] for a year. And to be able to have the season that we had last year was amazing to be a part of.”
San Francisco hasn’t won a game in the state of Minnesota in 32 years, losing seven consecutive matchups with the Vikings, if that can be believed.
“I think just when you’re at quarterback, I feel like a lot of times you can feel everything kind of collapsing on you, not just in the game, but theoretically, like, as a whole,” Darnold added.
“Just if things aren’t going your way, you can feel the weight of the world a little bit. And, you know, at the end of the day, it’s your job to just put the ball in your playmaker’s hands and let them go run and make a play. I think it’s as simple as that sometimes. And for me, it’s just about being able to get the ball out and into their hands and let them go run with it.”
In Week 1, Darnold flung the rock for 208 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, an interception, and a 79.2% completion percentage. For his troubles, statistics like EPA+CPOE and Pro Football Focus ranked him as the top quarterback in the league through one game.
Darnold also specifically cited his experience with San Francisco’s defense: “Yeah, I think just seeing them every day, I think it definitely helps. Just experience, being able to see the defense, but I’m sure they’ll have some different things. But again, like I said, really excited about the opportunity.”
It’s relatively rare for a quarterback to face his old team one year removed from employment. The Vikings will encounter it twice in 2024 — this week with Darnold against the 49ers and in December when Kirk Cousins’ Atlanta Falcons travel to U.S. Bank Stadium.
More than most, Darnold is intimately familiar with the 49ers’ defense and personnel. That can’t mean nothing.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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