The next two weeks will reveal plenty about what the future holds for the Minnesota Vikings and Sam Darnold. On this Week 16 Sunday, in the moments after Darnold maneuvered through the Seattle Seahawks’ pass rush to deliver the winning 39-yard touchdown strike to Justin Jefferson, those looming games against the 10-4 Green Bay Packers and 13-2 Detroit Lions could wait. Advertisement “Sam Darnold will be a Viking next year unless he bombs in the playoffs,” read the text from a veteran NFL player agent.
This impromptu conversation quickly grew to include NFL coaches and executives as the Vikings notched their eighth consecutive victory, 27-24 , in running their record to an improbable 13-2. Only the 1999 Kurt Warner-led St. Louis Rams have exceeded expectations through 15 games to a greater degree than these Vikings over the past 36 seasons, according to historic Vegas preseason win totals.
Those Rams, like these Vikings, had lost their franchise quarterback to a season-ending knee injury in preseason. They later traded their starter, Trent Green, after Warner led them to Super Bowl glory. The Vikings are not there yet, but how they proceed with Darnold — who is on a one-year contract — and injured rookie first-round pick J.
J. McCarthy got a little more fascinating after Darnold sliced that fourth-quarter pass through Seattle’s coverage a half-tick before pass rusher Dre’Mont Jones blasted him. This Darnold to Jefferson connection is too clean.
📺: #MINvsSEA on .
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