Sam Darnold’s Huge Game Leads Vikings to 11th Win
The legend of Sam Darnold as a resurrected quarterback took another dramatic turn on Sunday with his career-best performance in the 42-21 win over Atlanta.
In leading the now 11-2 Vikings to an important win to stay a game behind the Lions in the NFC North, Darnold exploded with 250 passing yards and three TD passes in the second half.
He made what is likely the offensive play of the year (so far) with his scrambling escape from a sure sack on a blitz and managed to find Justin Jefferson wide-open for a 52-yard TD that gave the Vikings a 21-13 third-quarter lead. Two more TD passes to Jordan Addison followed in the fourth quarter to turn the close game into a rout.
Sam Darnold’s Huge Game Leads Vikings to 11th Win
Darnold finished with an almost perfect, career-best passer rating of 157.9, five career-high TD passes, no interceptions, 347 passing yards, and a 79% completion percentage. He far outplayed his predecessor as Vikings quarterback, Kirk Cousins, who started well but finished poorly with two costly interceptions and a missed fourth-down conversion on an off-target pass.
Darnold entered training camp as the presumed short-term bridge starter to first-round pick J.J. McCarthy. When McCarthy was lost for the year in the first preseason game, Vikings fans and media wrote off this year as a lost season under Darnold, who was considered a career underachiever as a former third-overall pick and bust with the Jets.
How the world has changed for the Vikings and their presumed one-year starter in Darnold. He currently ranks third in the league with a 108.1 passer rating built on 28 TD passes (third-ranked), 10 interceptions (but none in the last four games), and a 68.4% completion rate. Most importantly, he has the Vikings on the verge of clinching a playoff spot as they keep the heat on the Lions and are now two games ahead of the Packers for the first Wildcard spot.
The conversation is heating up about his future in Minnesota beyond this season. If he finishes strong with 13 or 14 regular season wins and at least one playoff victory, it will be hard for the Vikings not to try to re-sign him. Daniel Jones’ presence gives the Vikings a vet option to pair with McCarthy, but considering the Vikings have plenty of cap room in 2025, how can they not re-sign Darnold if they can get a reasonable deal and his free agent options are less attractive than staying where he’s had the most success by far?
Stay tuned for this discussion, which will dominate the early offseason if Darnold stays on a successful track. I expect this to be the case, considering his ability, the excellent coaching he’s receiving (starting with Kevin O’Connell and QB Coach Josh McCown), and his great supporting cast led by Jefferson, Addison, T.J. Hockenson, and Aaron Jones.
Here are my other reactions to the Vikings win over the Falcons:
1. It was nice for the Vikings not to have a game go down to the wire after four of their previous five wins on the current six-game winning streak were in one-score games.
2. The key to the win was the Vikings’ big edge in turnover margin as they were plus three with interceptions by Josh Metellus and Byron Murphy (a one-handed beauty) and the forced fumble by Brian Asamoah that C.J. Ham recovered on a fourth-quarter kickoff. The kickoff fumble recovery and Murphy’s pick led to 14 fourth-quarter points. Along with Darnold’s scramble/TD pass to Jefferson, I thought the fumble recovery on the kickoff was the game’s biggest play, as the teams were trading touchdown drives at that point.
Penalties also played a big role in favor of the Vikings, with Atlanta penalized 12 times for 127 yards (the highest yardage total in the league this season), including a 47-yard pass interference call on former Vikings first-round corner Mike Hughes when he was beaten deep by Addison.
That led to Jefferson’s 12-yard TD reception for a 14-7 lead, and it came after the Vikings took points off the board when the Falcons were called for defensive holding on a field goal. Atlanta also had four offensive holding calls and three false starts as the home crowd for the Vikings continues to have a big effect on visiting teams. The Vikings had six penalties for 35 yards, which is too many but much better than Atlanta’s undisciplined performance.
3. Darnold is playing great with perhaps the league’s top wide receiver duo in Jefferson and Addison: they had a combined 15 catches, 265 yards, and five TDs on Sunday against the Falcons’ lousy corners, who were exposed in single coverage far too often. Jefferson and Addison are the first wide receiver duo in Vikings history to each have at least two TD receptions and over 100 receiving yards in a game. They remind me of the league’s most dominant duo we had with Randy Moss and Cris Carter in 1998 and beyond).
Jefferson was excited to get into the end zone for the first time since October 20 against the Lions. For the season, Jefferson has 75 catches, 1,170 yards (second-ranked in the league behind his college teammate Ja’Marr Chase), and seven TDs; Addison has 44 receptions, 708 yards, and seven TDs (and he missed two games with an ankle injury).
O’Connell did a great job of scheming in this game to free up Jefferson by putting him in the backfield and then in motion. That’s how Jefferson matched up with the slot corner in single coverage on his first TD. Addison again benefited from Jefferson’s extra attention, such as on his 11-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter when he easily beat the defender to the right pylon. Atlanta helped the Vikings’ cause by playing a lot of single safety compared to the two high safeties used often on Jefferson.
4. Strong finishes are a good sign: over the last two weeks in the wins over the Cardinals and Falcons, the Vikings have outscored their opponents 31-3 in the fourth quarter. That should bode well down the stretch and into the playoffs for a confident team.
The red zone offense was also a perfect 4 for 4 on TDs, another good sign. The offense’s third-down efficiency was excellent, at 8 for 12.
5. Better performance from Aaron Jones: No fumbles to start with, and he ran hard with 73 yards on 13 carries (5.6-yard average), including the late 13-yard TD run that finished off Atlanta.
6. Areas of concern for the Purple are pass protection and run defense: there were four sacks allowed (three in the first half, including a delayed blitz by Kaden Elliss that was not picked up, which was a problem in the Arizona game. Like the Cardinals game, the pass protection was better in the second half, as the Falcons may have worn down or lost their zest as the Vikings pulled away.
The run defense struggled for the second straight week. After allowing 154 yards to the Cardinals, the Falcons rushed for 158 yards and a couple of too-easy TD runs of six yards by Tyler Allgeier in the first quarter and 13 yards by Bijan Robinson in the third quarter.
The absence of LB Ivan Pace Jr. is a significant factor in the run D issues. He is on IR for two more weeks with his hamstring injury and can return in the Week 17 home game against the Packers.
7. Will Reichard a bit rusty: he hit the left upright from 47 yards in the third quarter but made all six extra points and kicked off well with all touchbacks except for the one return that resulted in the fumble. I think he’ll be just fine down the stretch.
Around the NFL in Week 14 & a look ahead to Week 15:
1. With Detroit’s win over Green Bay last Thursday, the Lions are 12-1 with 11 straight wins. But it wasn’t a dominating performance over the Packers, as injuries have piled up on defense. They’ll be tested by 10-3 Buffalo and top MVP candidate Josh Allen this Sunday in Detroit after Allen passed for three TDs and ran for three TDs in a 44-42 loss to the Rams in L.A.
The Lions also have a Week 16 trip to Soldier Field against the Bears, who almost beat them on Thanksgiving, and a Week 17 meeting with the 49ers in San Fran, which could be a challenge if the Niners are still alive in the tight NFC West. They clobbered the Bears 38-13 on Sunday, sacking Caleb Williams seven times, and the 49ers’ defense held the Bears to one first down and no points in the first half.
The Packers now trail the Vikings by two games for the first wild card spot and have a tough road game at NFC West-leading Seattle (the Vikings’ next opponent after the Bears) on Sunday. The Seahawks took over the division lead with a 30-18 win at Arizona.
2. In other key games, the Chiefs won their ninth straight AFC West title with a last-second field goal off the left upright for a 19-17 win over the Chargers.
The Eagles won their ninth straight but struggled in the passing game in their 22-16 win over Carolina, which left top WR A.J. Brown complaining about the passing attack, which managed to gain only 83 net yards, with Brown targeted only four times. Philly’s rushing attack is fine, with league rushing leader Saquon Barkley having a 124-yard day, but this undercurrent of discontent could hurt the Eagles come playoff time (which would be fine with the Vikings if they have to make a trip to Philly).
I’ll be back on Friday with my Vikings-Bears preview before their Monday night game at U.S. Bank Stadium. It’s a rematch of the 30-27 Vikings OT win at Soldier Field three weeks ago, and the home fans should be in top boisterous form in this prime-time game.
Jeff Diamond is a former Vikings GM, former Tennessee Titans President and was selected NFL Executive of the Year after the Vikings’ 15-1 season in 1998. He now works for the NFL agent group IFA based in Minneapolis and does other sports consulting and media work along with college/corporate speaking. Follow him and direct message him on Twitter– @jeffdiamondnfl
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