Matthew Coller: The chaos and chemistry of the Vikings game-winning drive

Sam Darnold led another go-ahead drive late to lead the Vikings over the Seahawks.

Dec 22, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) throws a touchdown pass against the Seattle Seahawks during the second quarter at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

SEATTLE — When the Minnesota Vikings headsets went out and quarterback Sam Darnold couldn’t hear Kevin O’Connell’s voice in his helmet, he did what he has been trained to do. Darnold knew that he couldn’t call timeout because every timeout is vital in the final moments of a tight game so he calmly called a play from memory that he figured all of his teammates would be comfortable with and then walked up to the line of scrimmage like nothing was going on. He dropped back, saw some space to scramble and took off for a 9-yard gain to keep the drive going.

“I was trying to get him a call and my headset, the last thing he heard was the formation,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said after the Vikings 27-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. “So his ability to get a played called, and I've got to be honest with you, I don't know what he particularly called. I just know that when I saw him have space and go run like he did, I was relieved.”

Three plays later, Darnold found himself at the Seattle 39-yard line with his team trailing 24-20 with 3:51 remaining. On the line: Keeping the Vikings chances of winning the conference alive. Nothin’ big or nothin’. The Vikings entered with a 12-2 record and tie breakers over the Philadelphia Eagles but since the Eagles lost to Washington earlier in the day, a win would make it possible for the Vikings to win out and earn a first-round bye. But that couldn’t happen unless Darnold figured out a way to get the Vikings in the Seattle end zone.

It hadn’t been the prettiest day leading up to this potential go-ahead drive. The Vikings had jumped up to a 17-7 lead in the first half but the Seahawks tied the game coming out of halftime and second half was more choppy for Darnold and the offense. They had back-to-back drives stall out on third down incompletions by the Vikings QB, allowing Geno Smith and the Seahawks to put together a 11-play, 68-yard drive that earned them the late-game lead.

At the beginning of the year, the world had no idea what to expect from Darnold in moments such as this. There were only so many times in his past that he had game-winning drive opportunities and none of them were in the midst of a race for the top record in the conference. Yet throughout the season, he has earned belief through clutch performances in the most important spots. Whether it was a drive to put away a Green Bay Packers potential comeback way back in Week 4 or a game-winning fourth-down conversion against the Arizona Cardinals three weeks ago, Darnold hasn’t shown the slightest flinch when the weight of the team is on his shoulders.

“I thought we were going to go down and get a touchdown,” O’Connell said. “The level of confidence that group has in their quarterback and the confidence in the 10 guys in the huddle is significant and that's how you're able to go do that on the road in this place.”

Maybe the sheer confidence of previous clutch performances helped Darnold remain calm as the noise of Lumen Field was reaching deafening heights. After all, the “12” fans had been embarrassed on national TV last week by “Go, Pack, Go!” chants and they were out to prove that they can still fluster opposing QBs. But the belief in Darnold that has been shown by his head coach over the last seven months also had to play a part.

“It's been awesome being a part of this journey with Sam, from many, many days and months ago in my office projecting nothing but confidence and belief in him, and he's earned much more than that,” O’Connell said. “He continues to go out and do it in some really tough circumstances. Sam Darnold deserves so much of the credit, really all of the credit, I would say of what he's become, wearing number 14 in purple this year.”

For the game-winning play, Darnold deserves equal credit along with wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who proved uncoverable for the Seahawks with 10 receptions on Sunday. As Darnold scrambled to make time for himself in the pocket, he spotted Jefferson down field wide open and heading toward the end zone.

The interesting part for O’Connell on the sideline was that Jefferson was not supposed to be there. The superstar wide receiver saw an opportunity to go deep on a play that was designed to draw attention toward him to open up Jordan Addison and TJ Hockenson.

“He would be on the back side and if they wanted to shove coverage over to him, we thought JA (Jordan Addison) or T.J. (Hockenson) on the front side,” O’Connell said. “But how it played out is he got such a clean, good release on the inside release he felt the vertical grass and took it, and in honor of Randy Moss, threw the mailbox sign up.”

Darnold has gotten good at spotting the mailbox sign (which is Jefferson raising his arm for the QB to see him). Without any hesitation, he flicked the ball 40 yards in the air into Jefferson’s hands. The star receiver backed into the end zone to give the Vikings the lead and ultimately the win.

“I want those guys to have some freedom in those moments, especially we do a lot of things with Justin and Sam, seeing the coverage, and then with some route opportunities to get to at the line of scrimmage,” O’Connell said. “I think those guys have just gotten so comfortable with that stuff that they are able to execute it like they did which was maybe the play, absolutely the play of the game, maybe even considering just a moment and the circumstances of the season as well.”

When Darnold talked about the play, it sounded like old hat. Like they had done it a million times. No big deal.

“I think first and foremost, Jeff (Justin Jefferson) is doing a great job of feeling that zone, and feeling the crowd, to get a little bit of width to get away from the safety and I felt like I needed to give him a shot, put it on his back hip and let him do the rest,” Darnold said.

When Jefferson talked about the play, he wasn’t aware that O’Connell had already revealed to the world that he changed the route.

“I don’t want to say too much about the play but something went on to where me and Sam were on the same page and he found me,” Jefferson said. “There’s not really a formula to it, just going out there and making plays.”

It might have actually taken Darnold a moment to fully realize what happened because he was smacked to the ground as he threw it toward Jefferson. When he knew something good happened was when his offensive linemen started going crazy celebrating. Darnold, very much with his head in the game, reminded them that they might still need to be ready to go out on the field again.

“My teammates being pumped up, wouldn't expect anything less,” Darnold said. “I was just telling them, we have to get a stop here, it's not over and sure enough we did that.”

Still, the linemen were pretty jacked up.

“There hasn’t been, in any of the games, any of the situations, whether we’re up 10, up 20; down 10, down 3, down 4, he’s been the same guy every single day from the minute he got here to now,” tackle Brian O’Neill said. “He gets his flowers today but that is the expectation now for him at this point — to go out and lead us in the biggest moments and make the plays when we need to make them. He was able to do that.”

The offense did end up going back out on the field after the Seahawks missed a field goal. While they didn’t get a first down, Darnold made another heads-up play by electing to take a sack rather than throwing an incomplete pass. On the first play of Seattle’s drive, Geno Smith threw an interception to safety Theo Jackson and the Vikings advanced to 13-2.

We are beyond the point of talking about whether the Vikings are a legitimate contender or whether they can really keep winning. They have proven that they can. To everyone in the locker room, there is a feeling that goes beyond just being a good team though. Jefferson compared it to his 2019 LSU Tigers team that won the NCAA national championship.

“Not just what we’re doing out on the field but the way we carry ourselves,” Jefferson said. “The way we treat each other is something different than any other locker room. When I won a championship at LSU, it was the same type of vibe.”

As they have progressed through this impressive season, they have leaned heavily on one particular cliche: “Let’s go 1-0 this week.”

With just two weeks to go and the NFC on the line, O’Connell is not changing that mantra.

“It's fun to laugh about but it is very critical and I think this team understands how we got to this point,” O’Connell said. “It's a mature team that can be dangerous, I do believe, if we continue to just understand what got us to this moment from the first day we got to training camp through each and every one of our 15 opportunities so far, that's just what we are going to do.”