Sam Darnold's MVP odds shoot up amid hot start
The Minnesota Vikings pummeled the Texans and talked about it . And quarterback Sam Darnold suffered an injury scare . But he's OK, and now his MVP odds have shot up amid his hot start.
Is this the Stranger Things upside-down world? Odds are moving in Darnold's favor, according to a post on X by ClutchPoints Betting.
"Sam Darnold has gone from +10000 to +3000 to win NFL MVP in just 3 weeks. Darnold leads the league in passing TD's and has been absolutely ballin' to lead the Vikings to a 3-0 start."
Vikings QB Sam Darnold off to a hot start
The numbers tell an interesting story. Darnold has completed 68% of his passes, which is over six points better than his career high. He has thrown eight touchdown passes in three games, just 11 off his career high of 19 back in 2019. Oh, and it's the most in a three-game span in his entire career. His touchdown percentage is 10.3, which is over five points higher than his previous career high in six games with the Panthers in 2022.
And he's thrown for 657 yards, which puts him on a pace of 3,700 for a full season. That would be over 700 yards above his career high.
Get the picture? Two words. Market correction. It's probably coming. Still, Darnold moved up to No. 11 in the MVP race, according to Vegas Insider.
But the key question is: Can Darnold keep it up?
Probably not. If you know how off-target FS1's Colin Cowherd can be, this won't comfort Vikings' fans. I mean, here's the comment on his X page.
"Last couple of weeks, I've been saying 'I don't know how long this Sam Darnold thing is going to last,'" said Cowherd. "But I do now. Until February 9th. That's the date of the Super Bowl. Yeah, I said it."
Well, OK, Colin. Let's bookmark that quote and see how it ages.
But it has been a good three-game run for Darnold. Certainly Kevin O'Connell is happy with a guy who seems to be saving the season that looked lost when rookie J.J. McCarthy went down with a knee injury. O'Connell said Darnold's performance against the Texans turned some heads , according to fox9.com.
"Sam Darnold was really, really good all day long. I'm just really proud of him, another day for really good quarterback play," O'Connell said.
ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky likes what he's seen of Darnold, according to a post on X.
"I think Sam's journey of going to San Francisco last year, and really learning how important the efficiency of his lower body is, and timing," Orlovsky said. "He's super, super, super talented. He's always been super talented, but he's just been in dog-crap situations. Minnesota's got a good offensive line. They've got one of the best game-plan people and game-callers in the NFL. They've got two really good receivers, one guy being one of the best in the NFL. I absolutely think Sam Darnold is good enough to have the Vikings as a playoff football team."
