Doubt the Minnesota Vikings all you want, but they continue to win. Following an impressive drubbing of the Atlanta Falcons, the Vikes now sit with a record of 11-2 and look every bit of a contending team in the NFC.
Week 14 would go on to be a career day for quarterback Sam Darnold, who threw a whopping five touchdowns in this one. Darnold finished 22-of-28 passing with 347 yards, five scores, zero interceptions, and nearly a perfect passer rating of 157.9.
Darnold had the luxury of throwing to one of the best wide receiver tandems in the league, too, as Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison combined for all five touchdowns and 265 receiving yards. It was as dominating a performance from three players as Vikings fans have seen all year.
Specifically, though, Darnold's performance was outstanding. As evidenced by his passer rating, he quite frankly played a near-perfect game, and head coach Kevin O'Connell didn't hold back in his praise for the veteran quarterback.
Following the win, O'Connell addressed his players and, in particular, gave credit to his quarterback.
“This guy’s been on one for a few weeks, and he just keeps getting better and better and better and better. And if people don’t understand now? Then, I don’t know what to tell you."
That's a classic example of a mic drop without actually dropping the mic. O'Connell heard plenty of criticism over the offseason, and even during the season when Darnold might have endured some speed bumps. But, the message is pretty clear. Darnold is as good a starting quarterback the Vikings could have dreamt of -- and clearly a better option than the struggling Kirk Cousins.
Minnesota Vikings QB Sam Darnold is a legitimate NFL MVP candidate no one is talking about
At this point in the season, if you're an 11-2 football team and your quarterback is coming off a five-touchdown performance, it would be hard to believe said quarterback isn't in the NFL MVP conversation.
So, while the likes of Josh Allen, Saquon Barkley, Lamar Jackson, Jared Goff, and, yes, Patrick Mahomes all make sense to be in the conversation, Darnold's name should be in there as well. And, if you were to ask an outlet like FanDuel, they'd agree, as Darnold currently has the sixth-best odds to win the award behind the aforementioned five.
Darnold currently ranks sixth in the NFL in passing yards (3,299), third in touchdown passes (28), and third in quarterback rating (108.1).
That doesn't happen by accident. Darnold is a legitimate MVP candidate whether people want to admit it or not. O'Connell isn't just pumping his guy up here. His point stands true.
If you don't understand just how good Darnold has been this year, you probably never will, and anyone is wasting their breath trying to make a convincing argument.