It may be setting in that a tremendously good team could be underdone by the carelessness of its quarterback.
JACKSONVILLE — Allow for the cliche: You are what your record says you are. The Minnesota Vikings are a 7-2 team sitting in the driver’s seat in the race to the top of the NFC with a number of games ahead on their schedule that are very winnable. Escaping Jacksonville with a win, regardless of how they got there, keeps them on track in the battle for playoff position. They don’t owe anyone any apologies for that.
But the fact that Sam Darnold threw three interceptions inside the 25 yard line, ending three excellent drives, left everyone exiting Jacksonville feeling a bitter taste in their mouths. Heck, with Cam Robinson in the mix they retained a good enough offensive line to get the job done in back to back weeks.
Roller coasters are thrilling at theme parks and maddening in the NFL. Darnold is a human roller coaster. There doesn’t seem to be an answer for him to stop being that way. No matter how many times the downswing happens and they look for answers and explanations, it seems to happen again. Last week against the Colts he tried to force the ball into a crazy tight window and got picked. Three times on Sunday against the Jags he put the ball where it shouldn’t have been in similar fashion.
But O’Connell’s bet on Darnold in the big picture is the only one he can make. Leaning into Darnold through hell or high water is the the only path with upside. You’d have to be sniffing glue to think that another QB is going to give them a better chance. Would you have preferred Jacoby Brissett? This roller coaster has upswings.
This is the Sam Darnold world we live in. There’s two ways it can work: If he gets hot again or if they win the games where he’s making huge miscues by grinding on defense and running the ball effectively. They did that on Sunday.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Matthew Coller: It's spotlight time for Sam DarnoldEvery single discussion surrounding the Minnesota Vikings this year has been some version of this: “Can Sam Darnold keep playing this good?”
Read more »
Matthew Coller: Everything that went right and wrong in Vikings loss to LionsSam Darnold hit big passes under pressure but the Lions attacked the whole defense.
Read more »
Matthew Coller: Looking at the 'self-inflicteds' of Vikings loss to LionsIn the case of the Minnesota Vikings’ 31-29 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, head coach Kevin O’Connell was left stewing over a handful of mistakes that opened the door for Detroit to come out on top.
Read more »
Matthew Coller: Vikings-related thoughts coming out of the bye weekWhile the Minnesota Vikings were on the bye week, there was a lot of action around the NFL relevant to them so let’s dive into some Week 6 and Vikings takeaways coming out of the bye….
Read more »
Matthew Coller: Vikings should have plenty of trade deadline optionsThe NFL trade deadline is November 5. That doesn’t mean the Minnesota Vikings have to wait for November 5 to make a move so let’s talk about it now.
Read more »
Matthew Coller: Which Vikings problems are concerning going forward?When a team loses two games in a row, everyone becomes Sherlock Holmes when it comes to looking for problems. The difficult part is figuring out which issues are actually troublesome going forward and which are nitpicky overreaction.
Read more »