Murphy: Darnold's big day a step toward redemption
Vikings journeyman quarterback had a moment in the sun in his US Bank Stadium debut
By Brian Murphy
Kevin O’Connell’s voice already sounded like he had been gargling rye and razor blades for three hours Sunday afternoon when it cracked two minutes into his postgame news conference.
The Vikings had just strutted through a 23-17 victory over the defending NFC champion 49ers at U.S. Bank Stadium to forge an unlikely 2-0 record behind the unlikeliest undefeated quarterback of 2024.
O’Connell’s fate as a third-year head coach without a playoff victory is welded to Sam Darnold’s as a lame-duck reclamation with nowhere else to go. Bound by burning self-interest and budding self-help, the quarterback whisperer and his forsaken protégé are taking baby steps on a potentially grand adventure no one saw coming.
The moment was not lost on a suddenly verklempt O’Connell, who gripped the podium a little tighter coming across as Mike Myers/Linda Richmond waxing about Barbara Streisand over coffee on “Saturday Night Live.”
“The amount of work that goes into that position on your quarterback journey when everybody decides that you cannot play …,” O’Connell said, trying to swallow a golf ball. “We always believed in him, and it felt awesome to watch him go do that thing.”
That thing was a 50-yard missile launched from Darnold’s own end zone into the open arms of Justin Jefferson, who rocketed behind San Francisco’s defense, and then outraced two defenders to the end zone for an electrifying touchdown.
And a bunch of little things that added up to 268 yards and two touchdown passes against the same 49ers team for which Darnold rode shotgun last year alongside Brock Purdy on their Super Bowl run.
Pump the brakes all you want on the early flag Darnold has planted for Comeback Player of the Year, but this was a signature victory for him and O’Connell, who also happens to be 2-0 against Kyle Shanahan and the Niners.
These weren’t the junior varsity Giants that Darnold carved up last week. This is an elite team, led by an elite coach raised by a legendary coach and a tenacious defense, which did nothing to prevent Darnold from shearing off its roof with a heave for the ages.
The 97-yard pitch and catch with Jefferson gave Minnesota a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter and raised expectations for what this so-called bridge quarterback can do paired with the league’s premier receiver.
“Sam has been making a whole bunch of great decisions,” said Jefferson, who left the game in the third quarter because of a quad injury. “We’ve got to just keep trusting in him to make those decisions.”
Trust has been the buzzword since Darnold arrived in Eagan in April on the wings of a 1-year, $10-million prove-it contract. It’s a sports story as old as time.
Former first-round prodigy faceplants in toxic environments in New York and Carolina, is vanquished to backup duty on a title-chaser and pinballs to a Vikings team that already his invested fates and fortune into 2024 first-round savior J.J. McCarthy, who happens to be lost for the season because of a preseason knee injury.
Stuff writes itself.
“I don’t get into narratives like that,” Darnold said. “I think the biggest thing for us is just continuing to take it one day at a time.”
Forgive Darnold for swaddling himself in cliches and “it’s-not-about-me” pushback. When you’ve been chewed up and spit out by the NFL infotainment industrial complex, the path of least resistance can be a wise road to redemption.
The 49ers came in as touchdown favorites after throttling Aaron Rodgers and the Jets in Week 1. They were on their heels from the jump. The Vikings blocked a punt and their defense swarmed Purdy to the tune of six sacks and two interceptions.
But for two red zone turnovers San Francisco converted into touchdowns and the superb play of three-time All-Pro linebacker and gameplan wrecker Fred Warner, the Vikings would have high-stepped to a blowout win.
Instead, they’re merely sitting pretty atop the NFC North, a division in which they were widely predicted to bottom out. Everything, however, can change in a New York minute.
Soon as the Vikings left the Big Apple last week, they had already recalibrated expectations among a jittery fan base that, frankly, didn’t know what to make of this team coming out of training camp.
Just getting to 2-3 before the Week 6 bye was a worthy pursuit considering the scheduling minefield Minnesota has to navigate before the leaves fall. Mission already accomplished.
Two games down, and the Vikings look like a well-balanced, complimentary team with more questions than answers from the infirmary. But 2-0 – under these conditions, in this division – is twiddling two stacks of house money without fretting about how you got there.
“If you can’t tell, I’m absolutely exhausted,” O’Connell said halfway through his first question. “I know our team is, but that’s what this is about. I love this football team already. Just because it might seem early, but there is so much that went into this up until today’s performance.”
Imagine the waterworks if O’Connell is still gripping a podium in late January.
I got all verklempt when I read the word verklempt in your commentary. Thanks!
I certainly did not expect this, yeah it’s early but a win against San Francisco is satisfying early or late. I hope they extend this staff, this team is playing for each other. Anyone who has played football at any level knows even with all its brutality it’s the best team sport. A team can overcome the shortcomings of individuals and create something special.