Tag: Sam Darnold

It is time to worry about Sam Darnold if you are a Vikings fan

Despite all their success, the Vikings have a growing problem and it is happening at an important position. 

The Minnesota Vikings are currently 7-2 and are among the best teams in the NFC. They are just one game from the top of the division and have their eyes on more with each passing week.

Despite all their success, the Vikings have a growing problem and it is happening at an important position.

Sam Darnold started the year out with 11 touchdowns and four interceptions heading into their Bye Week after the Jets win in London. Since that game, a game where he looked human again, Darnold has had six touchdowns and six interceptions. Something has finally cracked in Darnold, resulting in him either being figured out by opposing defenses or falling back into who he once was.

When you add in the three lost fumbles to his credit and the 14 turnover-worthy throws PFF has charted, you realize Sam Darnold is still a problem.

Brian Flores and his defense have saved the day the last two weeks, and Kevin O’Connell and his play-calling have kept some stability. Eventually, though, the ground is going to give out on Darnold, and the Vikings season will fall out along with it.

Recap: Jaguars, Vikings trade turnovers in 12-7 Minnesota victory

Recap: Jaguars, Vikings trade turnovers in 12-7 Minnesota victory

The Jaguars intercepted Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold more on Sunday, three times, than all of the quarterbacks they faced over the first nine weeks of the season combined (two).

Yet Jacksonville’s turnover production was not enough to overcome its own offensive struggles on Sunday, with Minnesota eking out a 12-7 victory at EverBank Stadium in Week 10.

Without starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence at the helm due to a left, non-throwing shoulder injury, the Jaguars mustered a mere 3.4 yards per play with Jacksonville native Mac Jones making his first start with the team at signal-caller.

Only two Jacksonville wide receivers caught passes on Sunday: Gabe Davis on a 19-yard reception that set the Jaguars up for their only score of the game — a one-yard quarterback sneak by Jones in the first quarter — and Brian Thomas Jr. for a two and 10-yard gains in the fourth quarter.

The Jaguars netted 70 yards on their scoring drive, and produced only 73 yards otherwise.

Jones finished the matchup 14-of-22 passing for 111 yards with the three turnovers.

Jacksonville linebacker Foyesade Oluokun, cornerback Montaric Brown and safety Darnell Savage Jr. each intercepted Minnesota quarterback Sam Darnold during the contest, with Brown and Savage making their plays either in the end zone or hovering the goal line, preventing potential scores by the Vikings.

Yet the Jaguars’ offense was entirely unable to capitalize on the opportunities their defense provided. Jacksonville ran 16 plays combined on drives that followed a Vikings turnover but generated no points and just 46 yards in those situations.

Jacksonville held a 7-3 lead from 3:48 remaining in the first quarter until 1:45 left in the third. But Minnesota kicker John Parker Romo, who signed with the Vikings on Tuesday, connected on consecutive field goal attempts from 33, 34 and 29 yards out between the third and fourth quarters to take control of the game.

All the while, Jones fumbled a snap and was intercepted twice over Jacksonville’s three final offensive series.

The Jaguars will travel to Detroit to face the Lions in Week 11, their final matchup with an NFC North team this season. Kickoff is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

Trojans take center stage on Sunday Night Football

Sam Darnold and Michael Pittman were able to share the field on a very special USC Sunday night in the NFL.

On Sunday evening, the Indianapolis Colts battled the Minnesota Vikings in a nationally-televised NFL showdown. For USC football fans, it was an opportunity to watch several of their former stars in the spotlight. They took hold of the spotlight and didn’t let it go.

Former USC quarterback Sam Darnold had an impressive evening for the Vikings. He completed 28 of his 34 pass attempts for 290 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions, leading Minnesota to a 21-13 win.

Perhaps Darnold’s most impressive play of the night was a touchdown he threw on the run. Under pressure by several Indianapolis defenders, Darnold rolled to his right and delivered a dime to fellow Trojan Jordan Addison, who hauled in a diving catch in the corner of the end zone.

Addison finished the game with five receptions for 42 yards and a touchdown. He also added a nine-yard carry on the ground.

Meanwhile for the Colts, fellow former USC wideout Michael Pittman Jr. had a relatively quiet night. The 2019 Biletnikoff Award finalist caught just one pass for 14 yards.

Darnold and Pittman were teammates for two seasons at USC. They connected on several big plays during their time together in Cardinal and Gold, perhaps none bigger than a deep ball down the sideline during the 2017 Pac-12 Championship Game against Stanford.

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Jaguars HC Doug Pederson has a simple answer for what makes Sam Darnold better

Jaguars coach Doug Pederson spoke to the media about the matchup before he was asked a simple question to which he gave a simple answer.

The Jacksonville Jaguars and the Minnesota Vikings faceoff on Sunday in a Week 10 matchup. Jaguars coach Doug Pederson spoke to the media about the matchup before he was asked a simple question to which he gave a simple answer.

When asked what has allowed for Sam Darnold to turn things around this season, Pederson gave a simple answer: “Justin Jefferson.”

To his credit, Pederson did laugh after giving the answer and went on to credit the coaching staff led by Kevin O’Connell and the scheme they are executing. The answer of Jefferson though perhaps was a glimpse into the truth that teams around the league feel about him.

The All-Pro wide receiver is on pace for a monster season with Darnold. Through nine weeks he is pacing for 102 catches, 1,663 receiving yards, and 11 touchdowns. Of course, he makes anyone he plays with better, but Darnold plays a part in Jefferson’s production, as much as Jefferson helps out Darnold.

Jordan Addison’s dad has strong reaction to Sam Darnold interception

After throwing an interception early in the Vikings Sunday night game against the Colts, one player’s father had an interesting reaction.

Not much went right for the Minnesota Vikings in the first half of their Sunday Night Football matchup against the Indianapolis Colts. The offensive line struggled to protect quarterback Sam Darnold.

The offense itself struggled to get going against the Colts defense, and Darnold made several unforced errors, including an interception that drew the ire of none other than the father of Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison.

On Darnold’s first interception of the game, Addison was running a route across the middle of the field and appeared to have an easy catch for a modest gain at the least. Darnold seemingly didn’t see Addison open, and was flushed from the pocket, resulting in an interception in the end zone and a scoring opportunity gone by the wayside.

That sequence of events prompted a reaction on X (formerly Twitter) from Addison’s father, Rolando Addison, Sr., who likened Darnold to famed musician and entertainer—and blind man—Stevie Wonder.

 

While invoking Wonder’s name is objectively hilarious, it illustrates a larger concern: Darnold’s performance has started to decline from the standout performances he turned in to start the season. Lately, Darnold has been making costly errors and missing guys fairly consistently.

His errors didn’t cost the Vikings in their game against the Colts, but the team needs Darnold to clean up if they’re going to make a playoff run, which they looked capable of just a few short weeks ago.

Vikings are on the wrong side of another controversial call

On Sunday night, Sam Darnold was on the wrong end of another bad call, this time against the Indianapolis Colts.

The Vikings, Sam Darnold, and NFL officiating are clearly not on the same page when it comes to controversial calls. If it wasn’t bad enough last Thursday night when the officials missed a facemask call on Byron Young that resulted in a game-ending safety — he was later fined by the league. There was yet another bad call on Sunday night against the Colts.

Darnold was strip-sacked and Indianapolis returned it for a touchdown — yet it shouldn’t have counted. Grover Stewart grabbed Darnold high and made contact with his face and slammed him to the ground which made the official throw a flag. But he quickly picked it up and said it was a legal play.

As you can imagine, Kevin O’Connell was not happy. He had a meeting with three refs on the sideline to figure out why the flag was picked up. But there was nothing that could be done by then.

Darnold now has two turnovers for the Vikings. He threw a terrible interception when Minnesota was driving inside the Colts’ red zone and then the fumble later on.

Rams’ Byron Young fined for controversial no-call against Vikings in Week 8

The latest salt in the wound for Vikings fans came in the form of Rams defensive lineman Byron Young being fined by the NFL.

Week 8 of the 2024 NFL Season will stick in the minds of Vikings fans through the rest of the year and beyond. For a franchise that has seen so many bad turns of luck of the years, it was just another reminder of what it means to be a Vikings fan.

The latest salt in the wound for Vikings fans came in the form of Rams defensive lineman Byron Young being fined by the NFL.

The play that resulted in Young getting the fine was the controversial no-call by the officiating crew on a critical drive for the team. The play involved a sack that had a clear facemask penalty involved, but the no-call meant the Vikings suffered a safety rather than a 15-yard penalty.

The Vikings would drop to 5-2 on the year and are now focused on snapping their skid. They will make that attempt on Sunday night against the Indianapolis Colts in front of a national audience.

Vikings offensive line tumbles in latest PFF power rankings

In the wake of a Christian Darrisaw injury and trade for Cam Robinson, the Minnesota Vikings offensive line tumbled in PFF’s power rankings.

Most media outlets these days put out power rankings after each week, evaluating how each team fared in the previous week’s matchup, and how they compare to their peers. It’s an easy way to churn out content, and a great conversation starter.

The folks at PFF; however, go a little further with power rankings than most. Not only do their weekly overall team rankings have more data than most other outlets to give you a better concept of why teams are moving up or down, but they also churn out power rankings for individual units on each team, giving a more granular look at the weekly picture.

One of those unit power rankings that PFF puts out is ranking each team’s offensive line each week. This week, the results aren’t kind to the Minnesota Vikings — and understandably so. Losing Christian Darrisaw– playing at a Pro Bowl level before the injury- is a huge blow to the team, and it makes sense that the Vikings would tumble as a result.

And tumble they did! The team’s offensive line fell six spots in this week’s rankings from PFF. That puts the Vikings in the bottom third of the league at #22, down from their #16 spot last week. That ranking may change next week, as Christian Darrisaw’s replacement, Cam Robinson, gets acclimated to the team and gets inserted into the starting lineup. For this week, however, PFF is projecting David Quessenberry getting the start in Darrisaw’s absence.

As the Vikings try to recover from their two-game skid, the offensive line is going to play a big part in just how well the team performs from here on out. Where quarterback Sam Darnold once could feel confident his blindside was protected, now there’s a lot of uncertainty — which is not good for a quarterback who has struggled the past two weeks, and has a pretty lengthy history of struggling when the pressure is on.

If there is a bright side, it’s that despite the tumble in offensive line rankings, and in spite of the two-game slide, the Vikings are still in the top 10 of PFF’s overall power rankings.

Vikings rookie QB J.J. McCarthy is working his way back into the fold

Rookie J.J. McCarthy will miss the 2024 season but remains active off the field to stay on top of things.

The Minnesota Vikings are in quite the pickle regarding their quarterback situation in the future, or so it seems. Sam Darnold’s play has truly been remarkable. Despite that sudden emergence, Darnold has to know he is not the future for this franchise. In fact, the quarterback of the future is already making his way back into the fold.

Rookie J.J. McCarthy will miss the 2024 season but remains active off the field to stay on top of things.

In a recent report from Sports Illustrated, Albert Breer discussed that McCarthy was with the Vikings during their trip to Los Angeles for their Thursday night matchup. He also included that McCarthy meets with coach Kevin O’Connell in one-on-one meetings weekly.

McCarthy is also working on his way back to being back into football activities, not just the mental ones. He remains the future for this franchise, O’Connell is handling it the right way, let us hope that Darnold does as well as he begins to see him more around the building.

T.J. Hockenson injury update: Latest news on Vikings TE

The Minnesota Vikings announced Friday that tight end T.J. Hockenson had been activated and will make his season debut in Week 9 vs. Colts.

It has been a tough week for the Minnesota Vikings and their fans. This time last week, Minnesota was one of just two undefeated teams in the NFL, along with the defending Super Bowl champions Kansas City. They were sitting atop the toughest division in the NFL, the NFC North, and were one of the biggest surprises of the season to this point.

In just five days, all of that has changed dramatically. The Vikings have lost two games in five days, the strength of the team — the Vikings’ defense — has looked average at best in the two losses, and news came out Friday that starting left tackle Christian Darrisaw will miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL and MCL requiring surgery.

It’s been a tough few days for the Vikings, but they got a bit of good news on Friday, as head coach Kevin O’Connell announced that the team would be activating tight end T.J. Hockenson to the active roster following his rehab from a knee injury of his own.

Hockenson was injured late last season when Lions safety Kerby Joseph hit him, tearing ligaments in his knee. It’s been a long rehab for Hockenson, but he’s finally ready to join the team. The Vikings hope his return will inject some life into an offense that has struggled in the past two games.

Minnesota got off to a hot start on Thursday night against the Rams, scoring 14 points in the first quarter. Then the offense cooled off dramatically, scoring just six points in the final three quarters, losing to the Rams 30-20. Hockenson’s return gives the Vikings offense another dynamic playmaker, and should give Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold a safety valve over the middle that he has lacked so far this season.

It remains to be seen whether it will be enough to stop the Vikings’ recent skid, but at the very least, it is a bit of good news in a sea of bad news lately.