Murphy: Let's not pick at 6-2 Sammy

Brian Murphy writes that Sam Darnold deserves credit despite turnovers

© Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

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By Brian Murphy

As smearing lipstick on a pig goes, you have to stand back in awe at the Vikings, who wrangled that ugly swine to the turf Sunday night and skulked out of U.S. Bank Stadium arm-in-arm with Marilyn Monroe.

Acknowledge the obvious. Apologize to no one. Act as if. And invest in more cosmetics because Minnesota is going to get muddier in those Jacksonville and Nashville pigpens the next two weeks.

The Vikings are a really good team. Oftentimes very good. Sometimes they are unnervingly confounding. But you don’t climb to 6-2 in the NFL without earning a few blemishes and sloppy wins along the way.

Their 21-13 victory over the Indianapolis Colts should be remembered with shrugged shoulders and comfort that it ended a two-game losing streak which raised eyebrows about its reclamation quarterback and suddenly vulnerable defense. 

Purge it quickly. Most important, holster your handwringing. Resilience is a powerful tool, and the Vikings are flush with it, which makes them as dangerous as they are unpredictable.

Nitpick Sam Darnold all you want. He is a supremely talented and curiously flawed quarterback who has only begun to redefine his career. The portrait is incomplete.

Still, Darnold’s eight-game evidence packet proves he can overcome crushing mistakes by making big-boy throws to a diverse band of playmakers that has only begun to show its prowess. 

There is still much to learn about the 2024 Vikings. What we do know makes a compelling case for their standing among the NFC elite halfway through the season.

It’s OK to jump. The water’s plenty warm. Minnesota is in the easiest stretch of a challenging early schedule. 

Overconfidence is poison. But there is no reason to believe the Vikings won’t be 8-2 after traveling to face the Jaguars and Titans, who are just begging to be walked behind the barn and put down.

Time for coach Kevin O’Connell to empty the trick bag and play in the laboratory. He finally has a full compliment of offensive weapons, with Sunday’s return of Pro Bowl tight end T.J. Hockenson and the re-emergence of second-year wide receiver Jordan Addison.

Darnold completed 28 of 34 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns to three different players not named Justin Jefferson, who, by the way, finished with seven catches for 137 yards. The Vikings only scored 21 points but doubled up the hapless Colts in total yards (415) and first downs (29) while possessing the ball for almost 37 minutes. 

That’s a blueprint for keeping your defense fresh and ravenous, which Brian Flores exploited to harass and confuse veteran placeholder Joe Flacco in the Indianapolis scheme of things. It was a bounce-back performance for the celebrated defensive coordinator and his unit, which was surgically dismantled by quarterbacks Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford in respective losses to the Lions and Rams.

As for picking nits, well, there were Darnold’s four sacks and three turnovers, including a pair of ghastly interceptions that have revealed a pattern of over-aggressiveness and poor decision-making. He also was strip sacked by Grover Stewart after the bulldozer defensive tackle went through center Garrett Bradbury like an ax through paper for a scoop-and-score that gave the Colts an early 7-0 lead.

Darnold also was clubbed in the head and neck on the play, though the officials picked up their initial flag saying the contact was incidental. At least they saw this one. Darnold had his facemask yanked like some of my tee shots for a Rams safety last week that two officials in the end zone somehow missed.

But Darnold did not wilt against the Colts. He responded by leading several turf-chewing, clock-controlling possessions while continuing to deliver tight throws downfield. 

For every time Darnold runs backwards into a sack, he offsets it with timely scrambles to escape danger and extend drives. It’s a highwire act of risk and reward with which everyone should be content. Lest anyone forget, we are only a year removed from the quarterbacking circus that came to town after Kirk Cousins blew out his Achilles midseason. 

Josh Dobbs, Jaren Hall and Nick Mullins playing sleight-of-hand street ball was entertaining as hell until the bullies came out, leaving the Vikings scrambling to win games 3-0 while their defense collapsed with exhaustion.

“My trust in Sam is something that I think is going to be a winning edge for our football team,” O’Connell said. “To win a football game when we lose the turnover battle, that means your quarterback played well.”

In spite of himself. And in spite of nitpicking naysayers who predict doom for this trapeze act against playoff contenders and the postseason itself. Fair point. 

But the Vikings have already defeated San Francisco, Green Bay and Houston, who are a combined 17-10. Other than rematches against the Packers at home, the Lions on the road and Cousins’ Dec. 8 homecoming with Atlanta, their remaining schedule is marshmallow soft.

Ample time to stack up more wins and continue building confidence behind a stellar defense and redemptive quarterback.

Hard to nitpick when you’re this busy applauding.

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