Coming off an embarrassing 23-6 loss to the Green Bay Packers this past Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings won't have it any easier this upcoming Sunday when they travel to the Pacific Northwest for a Week 13 date with the Seattle Seahawks, which also means a date with Sam Darnold.
Darnold, of course, signed a one-year, $10 million contract with Minnesota in March 2024 and was expected to serve as a placeholder/mentor until whichever quarterback the Vikings selected in the following month's draft was ready to take the reins, that quarterback ultimately being J.J. McCarthy.
But when McCarthy went down with a season-ending meniscus injury during the preseason, Darnold's role obviously changed, at which point he stepped up and delivered the best season of his career, setting personal bests in completion percentage (66.2), passing yards (4,319), TD passes (35), and passer rating (102.5) in leading Minnesota to a 14-3 regular-season record.
But after Darnold struggled in the regular-season finale, a loss to the Detroit Lions that cost the Vikes the NFC North and the No. 1 seed in the conference, and again in Minnesota's Wild Card Round defeat to the Los Angeles Rams, the franchise opted not to bring him back, opting instead to roll the dice with McCarthy, with Darnold signing a three-year, $100.5 million with the Seahawks.
The 28-year-old has continued to thrive in Seattle, posting similar numbers to what he did a season ago, and Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell sounds almost a little frightened to match up against his former QB1 and the 8-3 Seahawks this Sunday.
"To me, Sam has continued on with a lot of the things he did last year for us," O'Connell told the media earlier this week.
"You just feel some momentum of that offense, and they're able to move it as well as anybody in the league with Sam running the show. Really, what's gotten them at times, it's just been turnovers, but that's any team in football.
But as explosive as they've been and the amount of points they've put up, they're absolutely going to be a challenge.
He obviously has a good amount of reps logged against our defense over the course of training camp last year and the offseason program, and we know Sam really well, and what I would say about knowing him really well, we know how talented he is – we know he can make every throw. And if we're not airtight in our coverages [Seattle will] be explosive."
Sam Darnold facing the Minnesota Vikings defense should be an intriguing matchup
O'Connell is certainly accurate in his assessment of Darnold's strong season, as the USC alum ranks fourth among all NFL quarterbacks in completion percentage (69.5), sixth in passing yards (2,785), fifth in touchdown passes (19), fifth in TD percentage (6.4), fifth in passer rating (106.2), and sixth in QBR (69.2).
But O'Connell was also correct when discussing the turnover issues, as Darnold has thrown 10 interceptions, tying him with Joe Flacco and none other than J.J. McCarthy for the fourth-most in the league.
It should be noted, of course, that McCarthy has only played six games to Darnold's 11, but we'll stay away from any detailed head-to-head comparison here, as there really is no comparison between the two at this point, given McCarthy's ongoing struggles.
O'Connell's concerns about facing Darnold are undoubtedly valid, but the Vikings' defense has actually been one of the best in the league against the pass this season, allowing just 186.1 yards per game, good for the seventh-fewest in the NFL. So, it'll certainly be interesting to see how this highly anticipated matchup plays out.