Despite the dominant start to the 2024 season, there are still naysayers about the Minnesota Vikings. Not only did the Vikings go into New York and crush the Giants, but they looked just as dominant while beating the 49ers this past Sunday.
While it’s not a huge difference in size, the eye test favors Minnesota early on. However, Ben Solak with ESPN is still viewing the Vikings as pretenders after two games.
“I wish they were contenders. It would be so cool if they were contenders. But Sam Darnold falls below the bar of QB play necessary to be a true contender. The only way I’d be willing to buy the Vikings is if I were certain that coach Kevin O’Connell is so good an offensive schemer that he can do what Sean McVay did for Jared Goff in 2018 and what Kyle Shanahan did for Jimmy Garoppolo in 2019. And it’s harder to do it now than it was then.”
So far, Darnold has been everything the Vikings need in order to win. He’s thrown for 476 yards while completing 72% of his passes. Darnold has thrown four touchdowns but has also tossed two interceptions. As long as Justin Jefferson stays healthy and gets Jordan Addison back, Darnold will have plenty of targets to throw to. Keeping that rhythm will be paramount for his long-term success in 2024.