Darnold Must Return To Form After Throwing 3 Picks In Week 10
The bloom is off the Sam Darnold rose. After starting the season looking like a serious MVP candidate, the interceptions have been piling up for the Vikings quarterback and the TD passes have diminished to a slow trickle.
The Vikings fan base is grumbling on social media, and that unhappiness would have reached a crescendo if the Jaguars would have held on in Week 10 and upset the Purple. The Vikings held the ball for an incredible 42:19-17:41 advantage, and that's the biggest edge any team has had in that area this season.
The Vikings also had a 28-10 advantage in first downs and a 402-143 advantage in yardage. Nevertheless, they almost lost the game because Darnold threw three interceptions and could not lead the Vikings into the end zone even once.
His performance aside from the TD-interception ratio was fairly decent, as he completed 24 of 38 passes for 241 yards, but to many of those tearing out their hair on social media it's similar to saying that Mrs. Lincoln rather enjoyed the performance of "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater prior to her husband's assassination.
The Vikings nearly lost to the 2-8 Jaguars, and that would have been unacceptable. Fans had been upset about Darnold for his performance the previous week against the Indianapolis Colts. The numbers say that Darnold was quite remarkable as he completed 28 of 34 passes for 290 yards with 3 touchdowns, but he also threw 2 interceptions that the fan base deemed unacceptable.
The fans may be upset, but head coach/quarterback whisperer Kevin O'Connell remains firmly in Darnold's corner. In his locker room speech after the 12-7 win over the Jaguars, O'Connell backed his quarterback as the team's leader.
"Everybody in this locker room knows it," O'Connell said . "You are the guy that's going to take us there."
O'Connell supported Darnold
because he has no other legitimate choice to play quarterback. Rookie J.J. McCarthy will almost certainly be the team's QB1 next season, but he was ruled out for the season with a torn meniscus after the team's first preseason game in August.
Backup quarterback Nick Mullens would only take snaps for the Vikings if Darnold was unable to play. Mullens started 3 games last year and the Vikings went 0-3 in those games, and he has a 5-15 record as an NFL starter. That includes previous stints with the 49ers and Browns. Mullens has not won an NFL game since the 2020 season when he finished 2-6 with San Francisco.
Mullens completed 100 of 148 passes last year for 1,306 yards with a 7-8 TD-interception ratio. Those numbers don't sound awful, but when he had a chance to help the Vikings get in the win column in crucial late-season games against the Bengals, Lions and Packers, he was shaky when the game was on the line.
No. 3 quarterback Brett Rypien played three seasons with the Denver Broncos before he moved on to the Los Angeles Rams a year ago. He performed fairly well with the Broncos in 2022 when he completed 53 of 88 passes for 483 yards with a 2-4 TD-interception ratio. The Broncos went 1-1 in his two starts that season.
Neither Rypien nor Mullens can provide a winning answer for the Vikings and neither man will play unless Darnold is unable to take his position under center due to injury.
O'Connell, offensive coordinator Wes Phillips and quarterback coach Josh McCown are scheming to get Darnold back on track. The Vikings are hoping that their quarterback can put that three-interception performance out of his system this week against the Tennessee Titans (2-7), another team that is struggling badly.
The coaching brain trust would like to see Darnold perform at a high level when the Vikings hit the next portion of the schedule against the Bears, Cardinals and the Falcons. The Vikings go to Chicago in Week 12 before hosting Arizona and Atlanta.
Many things have gone right for the Vikings this season. Now it's time for their quarterback to return to his best form once again.
