vike daddy Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 5 Stats That Tell the Story of Sam Darnold’s Performance against the Giants 79.2 Darnold completed 79.2% of his passes, the second-highest mark of his seven-year career and well above his career average of 60%. He was on target and in rhythm from his first pass of the game, completing his first 12 passes. 0.8% How unlikely was Darnold to connect on his first 12 pass attempts? According to NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Darnold had a 0.8% chance of completing all 12 passes. This was based on each pass’s completion probability, including a 44-yard completion to Jefferson deep down the left sideline. 113.2 The high completion percentage and two touchdown passes gave Darnold a passer rating of 113.2, the eighth-highest mark of his career through 67 games. This wasn’t due to him dinking and dunking the ball and letting playmakers do the work, either. Pro Football Focus (PFF) charted him with an Average Depth of Target (ADOT) of 9.1 yards, showing that Darnold was pushing the ball downfield. 1 Darnold only took one sack on Sunday, a somewhat rare feat for the seventh-year QB. He has taken at least two sacks in a game in 44 of his 67 career games. Of the 23 games where he took two or fewer sacks, Darnold played less than 25% of his team’s total offensive snap eight times. 9.1 According to PFF, the offensive line held up well on Sunday, allowing 11 pressures on 28 dropbacks to a Giants defensive line that features Dexter Lawrence. This resulted in a 9.1 pressure-to-sack rate, about half the rate of his career mark of 18.1%. Darnold took off and scrambled one time. https://purpleptsd.com/2024/vikings/vikings-analysis/story-of-sam-darnolds/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcblack34 Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 That's an impressive game from Darnold. He looked like a polished, comptetent, professional quarterback. He was comfortable, decisive, accurate, and cautious but aggressive when needed. If that's the Sam Darnold we get this year, we're going to be a tough out for anyone. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GermanVike Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 And I didn't really have the impression, that the run game carried him. The RBs really took off in the second half, when the game was well in hand. So Darnold kind of carried the offense for the first two quarters. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcblack34 Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 7 hours ago, GermanVike said: And I didn't really have the impression, that the run game carried him. The RBs really took off in the second half, when the game was well in hand. So Darnold kind of carried the offense for the first two quarters. I think the run game took off because they had to respect what he was doing at quarterback. It’ll be interesting to see how he fares against an elite defense, though. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 Bleacher Report: "Sam Darnold's 2024 season may play out like Baker Mayfield's 2023 campaign — minus the playoff berth. Nonetheless, Darnold looks ready to shed the bust label associated with his name since he flamed out with the New York Jets and became a journeyman quarterback. Perhaps Darnold found the right spot for a career rebirth. He has a star wide receiver, Justin Jefferson, and O'Connell, who's an established play-caller, can put him in the best situations for efficient performances." "Aside from a throw that fell short on an interception because Dexter Lawrence II hit his arm, Darnold had a clean season opener and looked like a quality starting quarterback. With J.J. McCarthy on season-ending Injured Reserve, Darnold has the Minnesota stage to himself under center and a chance to extend his career as starter." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcblack34 Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 Minus the playoff berth? Bleacher Report sucks. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted Monday at 03:57 AM Share Posted Monday at 03:57 AM Two weeks, two good showings for Sam Darnold. It was fair to question whether Darnold, the former first-round pick of the Jets, would be able to handle starting duties in 2024, especially considering how he'd performed the last time he was a frequent starter in Carolina. Those worries are starting to melt away, because for a second straight week, Darnold commanded his role and propelled the Vikings to victory. Darnold posted another quality line -- 17 for 26, 268 yards, two touchdowns -- tacked on 32 rushing yards on five scrambles, and only made one mistake when he threw an interception, which was as much of a great play by 49ers linebacker Fred Warner as it was a bad decision by Darnold. Most importantly, Darnold did not wilt under the pressure of a tight game, and showed off his maturity when he ripped a rocket down the seam over Warner and between three 49ers defenders to Jalen Nailor for a pickup of 26 on third-and-8. Darnold hasn't made that kind of play since his days at USC, and they're becoming more frequent (see: his 97-yard touchdown pass to Justin Jefferson). That bodes well for these Vikings. NFL.com 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CriminalMind Posted Monday at 03:59 AM Share Posted Monday at 03:59 AM Who’s having a better season so far: Darnold or Minshew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Worm Guts Posted Monday at 04:57 AM Share Posted Monday at 04:57 AM (edited) 58 minutes ago, CriminalMind said: Who’s having a better season so far: Darnold or Minshew Darnold by a mile. Better record, better rating, better QBR. Edited Monday at 04:58 AM by Worm Guts 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelKing728 Posted Monday at 01:27 PM Share Posted Monday at 01:27 PM lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted Monday at 03:00 PM Share Posted Monday at 03:00 PM No Jefferson in that stretch. Oh and no Jordan Addison this week or tight end T.J. Hockenson at all, yet. O'Connell: "That is big-time quarterback play for all those folks out there that want examples of it. I think we got two weeks of some pretty tangible examples of some great quarterback play from Darnold. I'm really proud of him." "He's playing quarterback and playing it at a really high level. I want to highlight Keenan McCardell and that receivers group, because we're already down Jordan. We're already down T.J. Plays are built with No. 18 as a focal point. We got a lot of double coverage today on him, and he was able to have his impact. But then when he goes down there are so many moving pieces – it's musical chairs." https://www.vikings.com/news/sam-darnold-deep-pass-leadership-key-drive-scrambling-win-49ers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemperFeist Posted Monday at 03:06 PM Share Posted Monday at 03:06 PM Really like seeing this. It was one of the concerns I had about Darnold heading into the season. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcblack34 Posted Monday at 08:38 PM Share Posted Monday at 08:38 PM It's only been two games, but it's hard to find fault with Darnold at all. The near disaster on the trick play and not seeing Warner, but those are minor quibbles to me. We are on our way to matching our 34 turnovers from last season, so we need to clean that up a little. But so far, really excellent returns. This team, with Darnold playing this way, can win 12 games. They obviously can hang with the class of the NFC. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted Tuesday at 04:57 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 04:57 PM 20 hours ago, wcblack34 said: This team, with Darnold playing this way, can win 12 games. They obviously can hang with the class of the NFC. Until Mullens is forced to play. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted 21 hours ago Share Posted 21 hours ago One of O'Connell's most important traits is his ability to instill confidence in his players. There is an earnestness in the way he delivers a message that inspires those who play for him. It was right there as he stood at the podium in his postgame news conference, a hint of defiance in his voice as he talked about his quarterback. KOC: "The amount of work that goes into that position on your quarterback journey when everybody decides that you cannot play, we always believed in him, and it felt awesome to watch him go do that thing. I'm really proud of Sam Darnold." vikings.com 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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