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How the 49ers will Expose Minnesota Vikings Quarterback Sam Darnold

The feel-good Sam Darnold revival story will end this Sunday in Minneapolis.

Grant Cohn

Sep 8, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) rolls out to pass against the New York Giants during the second half at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images
Sep 8, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) rolls out to pass against the New York Giants during the second half at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images / John Jones-Imagn Images
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The feel-good Sam Darnold revival story will end this Sunday in Minneapolis.

Darnold was the 49ers' backup quarterback last season. Now he's the starting quarterback for the Vikings, and last week he posted a quarterback rating of 113.2 during a 28-6 win on the road over the New York Giants. Naturally, lots of people suddenly think Darnold is good. Let me assure you, he is not. And the 49ers will prove it on Sunday.

Darnold is the same quarterback he always has been -- an indecisive passer who holds the ball too long. Last week, he averaged 2.7 seconds of pocket time per drop back -- second most in the NFL. And the Giants, bless their hearts, simply had no pass rush and could not pressure him. But the 49ers have one hell of a pass rush. Nick Bosa must be licking his chops.

In seven career seasons, Darnold's quarterback rating when he gets rid of the ball in less than 2.5 seconds is a solid 91.4. When he waits 2.5 seconds or more to throw, his passer rating plummets to 61.4.

The Vikings will do their best to call quick, one-read passes that force Darnold to get the ball out of his hands as quickly as possible. But he inevitable will revert to his true nature -- a quarterback who hesitates, holds the ball too long and then throws it up for grabs. And he does this multiple times per game. Which is why he was a backup the past two years and will be one again soon.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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