Matthew Coller: Inside two moments that defined Sam Darnold's breathtaking performance

The Vikings QB shredded Atlanta's defense and took a second on the sideline to let out some emotion.

Dec 8, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) celebrates running back Aaron Jones' (33) touchdown run with head coach Kevin O'Connell during the fourth quarter against the Atlanta Falcons at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

MINNEAPOLIS — Sam Darnold isn’t one to wear his emotions on his sleeve. Actually, it has been to the Minnesota Vikings’ benefit that he never seems to be in a glass case of emotions considering all the times he was stone-faced as he led game-winning or put-a-team-away drives this year. Or all the times that the outside world was talking about whether he would regress or the media was asking him about chasing away his past ghosts this season. He never dunked on the Jets when he was thriving or blamed anybody else when he had tough days. He was Mr. One Day At A Time.

But on Sunday afternoon, the power of US Bank Stadium when Vikings fans realize something special is happening got to Darnold.

The Vikings had just driven 98 yards for a touchdown to take a 21-point lead with just moments to go. Darnold was over on the bench waiting for the final buzzer to sound when the in-stadium camera pointed to him. The crowd went berserk. Why not, they had just watched him put together one of the best games in franchise history with five touchdowns and nearly a perfect quarterback rating. They just watched him do it against the Vikings former quarterback who had all the “revenge game” discussion around him leading into the game. The crowd was giving Darnold it’s seal of approval after a wildly successful prove-it game.

You would have guessed that the 27-year-old quarterback would have given a little wave. Instead he jumped up and started swinging a towel around, urging on the crowd. It felt like the dam broke. Like he was admitting what this season has meant to him, even if he hasn’t wanted to share it in words. It was a much more powerful statement.

“That was a lot of emotion for me, I was just excited, man,” Darnold said. “I feel like I couldn't just sit there just kind of stoic and just straight-faced. I feel like I had to show a little bit of emotion for the fans and give them what they wanted. So that was a special moment for me.”

Darnold admitted that there haven’t been too many times since he’s been playing football that he would have been overcome by the fire of the moment like he was on the sideline after the win was in the bag. But there haven’t been many opportunities to play with a team like the 11-2 Vikings. Not too many receivers who can make the downfield catches that Justin Jefferson or Jordan Addison did and not too many coaches who can maximize a quarterback’s skills like Kevin O’Connell.

His 347-yard day was the culmination of everything coming together, starting back when the Vikings signed him to a one-year contract as a “bridge” quarterback to his development in the system through OTAs and training camp to his growth within the season.

“I think whenever I show passion, whenever our entire team shows passion on the field and it comes out as emotion, that is a huge testament to kind of the amount of work we put in,” Darnold said. “That's all it is. When you see it come to fruition, it's such a great feeling, and sometimes it's really hard to hide that. So it was just all-encompassing emotion on the field today. And like I continue to say, our fans, the way they were able to bring that energy today was incredible.”

Darnold’s teammates loved to see it. They have been banging the drum for him since the offseason and telling anyone who would listen that they appreciated his leadership and demeanor.

“If I was the quarterback and I just threw for five touchdowns I’d stand up and wave a towel too, I’d act crazier than that,” tackle Brian O’Neill joked. “He loves ball, he loves this team, he loves being here and it’s good to see the emotion after the day he had. It was good to see the reaction too — the reaction was one of the coolest end-of-game environments that I’ve been a part of.”

O’Neill continued:

“He’s the first one to say, ‘I’ve got to do better,’ when it wasn’t his fault at all and I love playing with him, I love playing for him and the journey he’s had in his NFL career, I’m really happy this year has gone that way for him.”

Center Garrett Bradbury thought it was particularly special because Darnold is so often understated.

“That was sick,” Bradbury said. “[Guard] Dan Feeney was like, ‘that’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.’ He played a hell of a game…you love to see that emotion. I’m fired up for him.”

O’Connell is more prone to being emotional than Darnold and he would neither confirm nor deny having that emotion come out when he saw Darnold get pumped up.

“You guys know I'm good for a little emotional moment every now and again,” O’Connell said. “I'm just proud of him. Days like this are so many hours upon hours of hard work and committing to being a Minnesota Viking and making sure that every waking moment [he has] is built on earning the trust of [his] teammates, performing at a high level, and then stacking successful practices, days, meetings, games on one another…there's not many guys in the locker room that are surprised about the performance he had today.”

The world might have been surprised about Sunday’s showing from Darnold a few weeks ago. When he threw three interceptions against the Jacksonville Jaguars, there was a legitimate concern that his turnover woes from the past might haunt a talented Vikings team. Instead Darnold has not thrown an interception in the last four weeks and has strung together possibly the best quarter season of any QB in football since that ugly game against the Jags.

For O’Connell, it makes Darnold’s success even better that the veteran quarterback worked hard to pick apart what went wrong in Jacksonville and fix it on the fly to reach his career crescendo on Sunday.

“What it was, in my opinion, was an incredible growth moment for him,” O’Connell said.

While O’Connell and teammates were talking postgame about his emotional expression, there was also one particular play that they couldn’t stop raving about: His touchdown pass to Justin Jefferson, a 52-yard bomb. The Falcons sent a blitz up the middle that went unblocked and it looked like Darnold was going to run for a first down. Instead he spotted Jefferson waving his arm wildly looking for the football and let it loose. Jefferson caught it and walked into the end zone.

When O’Connell was asked after the game about what impressed him most about Darnold’s day, the first play he talked about was that pass.

“They had seen something on tape to try to generate a free runner and his ability to navigate a very, very uneasy pocket, to say the least, and get up and out and still keep his eyes up and find Justin,” O’Connell said. “Finding him, even though he was by himself back there, was quite a task, considering the movement he just had to make.”

How many quarterbacks can make that play?

“Not very many,” O’Connell said. “That's exactly what I told him when he walked off the field. I was a little more detailed with Sam (smiles). I'm not going to tell you what I told him in regards to my opinion on how many guys make that throw.”

Darnold said that he saw his star receiver because he had his hand in the air, reminiscent of Randy Moss.

“I did see him wave his arm, and that's kind of one of the first signs as a quarterback, I should probably throw this to him,” Darnold said. “It was a great play by him. I heard on the sideline that if I would have had time, he absolutely cooked the dude on the route that was called for him.”

Bradbury thought that Darnold was going to run with the ball and started looking up the field to block. Next thing he knew, Darnold was cocking back to hurl it downfield and the center was worried he had blown the play.

“They brought the safety in the A gap and I got a piece of the safety but it was an unblocked guy, so I see him get flushed [out of the pocket], so I started flushing with him and I knew it was third down, I was trying to be a lead blocker and then I looked back and he was turning to throw and I was like, ‘oh crap,’ because if I’m downfield for that it would be not good,” Bradbury said. “I scrambled back to the line of scrimmage and was looking at my O-line coach like, ‘that was close.’ Unbelievable off-schedule play by Sam.”

That touchdown was one of a number of high-level talent throws that Darnold made on the day. Jefferson finished with seven receptions for 133 yards and Jefferson with seven for 132. They became the first duo ever in Vikings history to post 100-plus yards and at least two touchdowns in the same game. Remarkable when you consider the other duos they have had throughout Vikings history.

Also under the category of “Darnold didn’t do it alone” was the running game, which racked up 100 yards between Aaron Jones and Cam Akers. The two running backs dominated the final offensive drive where the Vikings went 98 yards to put the game away.

The Vikings walked out of the building having proven that the offense showed that they could win a game where they struggled at times defensively.

“Offensively, I think we were waiting for kind of a game where we kind of just hit the gas and were the driving force for our team,” O’Connell said.

They also walked out of the building at 11-2 knowing what’s ahead and what it could mean to have a quarterback playing at the highest level possible.