Nov 10, 2024; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; A Minnesota Vikings fan cheers during the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images.
He will have many more afoot, but the Minnesota Vikings Week 11 outing in Nashville was probably the most important game of quarterback Sam Darnold’s NFL career to date.
Why? Well, Darnold performed woefully in Week 10 at the Jacksonville Jaguars, delivering three inopportune interceptions to Jaguars personnel and damn near losing the game for the purple team.
In the heat of the moment, some Vikings fans even recommended a bench assignment for Darnold in favor of Nick Mullens, a request Minnesota’s coaching staff did not oblige. Kevin O’Connell and his staff rallied behind Darnold, calling it “craziness” to even contemplate benching the 27-year-old. Fast forward to Sunday evening or Monday morning, and O’Connell got it right.
Darnold answered the call in Tennessee.
The Vikings “bridge quarterback” created 3 touchdowns, with 246 passing yards, 18 with his feet, and only one turnover — that probably should’ve been allotted to running back Aaron Jones. On the first drive, Darnold tossed the rock to Jones, but he couldn’t handle it. The fumble was credited to Darnold. Aside from that team blunder, Darnold was nearly perfect against a Titans’ defense that led the NFL in fewest yards allowed.
Per EPA+CPOE, an efficiency metric adjudicating expected wins added, Darnold ranked 11th among all qualifying quarterbacks in Week 11. The game was so vital for his career trajectory because if he followed up the Jaguars performance with another 3 picks and no touchdowns, O’Connell would be forced to explore the “craziness” of benching Darnold to salvage the season.
Now, that’s moot.
ESPN even applauded Darnold’s outing. “Was this a bounce-back game for quarterback Sam Darnold? Absolutely. The game began inauspiciously when, on the third play of the Vikings’ first possession, Darnold’s pitch to running back Aaron Jones hit the ground and was recovered by the Titans. But after committing six turnovers in the previous two games, Darnold held on to the ball for the rest of the game while throwing two touchdown passes and running for a third,” Kevin Seifert wrote.
“That was no small feat given the heavy pressure (38% of offensive snaps) he endured from the Titans’ defensive front, which was active even after the Vikings gave right guard Dalton Risner — a strong pass blocker — his first start of the season.”
Darnold will likely never morph into a consistently elite passer. Yet, based on how Minnesota’s defense ranks tops in the NFL per DVOA and EPA/Play, it needs a QB1 who doesn’t create 3 turnovers per game. It might simply need a “game manager” to make a little noise in the postseason.
On Sunday, Darnold recovered and played even better than a game manager, perhaps a career-saving moment.
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 MIN 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.