Matthew Coller: Darnold's bounce back outweighs Vikings sloppiness

A strong performance by Darnold, the Vikings hope, bodes well for the rest of the season.

Nov 17, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) screams to the crowd as he leaves the field against the Tennessee Titans during the second half at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

In the Minnesota Vikings 23-13 win over the Tennessee Titans, there were a lot of things to shake your head over. Aaron Jones fumbled a routine pitch. They gave up a 98-yard touchdown. Jalen Nailor dropped a sure touchdown that would have put the Titans away.

But when the dust settled in Nashville, the Vikings were 8-2 and quarterback Sam Darnold had the bounce-back game that he sorely needed after struggling with giveaways over the last two weeks.

Darnold finished 20-for-32 with 246 yards and three total touchdowns. And the most important stat: Zero turnovers. (Yes, the box score will say one fumble on the pitch but that doesn’t count).

In victories over the Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars, the offense still put up good yardage and time of possession numbers but Darnold was haunted by big mistakes. Versus the Colts he threw an interception in the end zone to start the game and then another pick later that gave Indy some life. In Jacksonville, all three INTs came inside the 25-yard line and they failed to score on several other opportunities, forcing new kicker Parker Romo to make four field goals. Not exactly the way you draw it up.

On Sunday, Darnold came out of the gate making plays. On the second drive of the game, he hit receiver Jordan Addison for a 47-yard touchdown. On the third drive, he led them methodically down the field over 16 plays into the end zone. He had 16 and 31-yard completions and also dunked the ball down a few times rather than taking shots into tight windows. He scrambled for enough to set up a fourth-and-short, that the Titans helped them convert by jumping offside, and then he eventually slammed the ball into the end zone.

With the way the Vikings defense was playing, they didn’t need much more than that. In the second half, Darnold led another touchdown drive, highlighted by a 25-yard throw to Jefferson and rollout TD pass to Cam Akers. With a chance to completely close out the Titans, the QB made a good enough throw to put Tennessee on ice but receiver Jalen Nailor failed to bring the ball in. Still, the Vikings used up seven minutes of the fourth quarter on two drives, leaving the Titans little time for a comeback.

Darnold’s performance won’t make many of the week’s highlight reels. He won’t be talked about as the MVP again, like he was after Week 5, and there won’t be any debate shows talking about whether the Vikings are going to JJ McCarthy next year or not. But he did the job and gained back whatever confidence may have waned in the previous weeks.

“I think it speaks to where he's at right now,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “Just really proud of the way he played. I mean, how we played in those moments was a huge indicator of a guy that had put the work in, and was confident, and just going out there and do his job and a lot of plays. And then also overcome some things around him to make some plays, which was critical for us.”

The biggest thing he had to overcome was the lack of a running game. Darnold handed 15 times to Jones for just 39 yards and got 10 caries for 25 yards for Akers. Without relying on the run, Darnold largely had to get the job done himself.

“I thought his feet and eyes were really good,” O’Connell said. I thought, as he's done most of the season, his ability to extend some plays, that's a good front, really good interior front, that there's going to be some push.”

The performance in Tennessee was more along the lines of what Darnold did over the first five weeks of the season to get the Vikings to a 5-0 record. He only had four picks in the first five games and often played it safe with the football when things were going sideways. On several occasions on Sunday, he either threw the ball away or took a smart sack rather than trying to take a wild risk. Yet he balanced that with playing aggressively, hitting some downfield throws and making plays outside the pocket. It was a game-manager-plus type game, which is short of MVP-caliber but doesn’t add extra pressure to a defense that was mostly controlling the game.

O’Connell mentioned that the Titans did attempt to recreate some of the looks that the Jaguars used against Darnold but they were able to respond to them well. Darnold credited the team’s preparation.

“I just felt like the way that we prepared throughout the week for certain pressures and for their certain looks,” Darnold said. “Credit to our coaching staff for being able to put together a lot of just really solid look teams and the scout teams this past week were unbelievable with this kind of stuff.”

It has become a staple of Darnold’s 2024 that he hasn’t allowed himself to get into a rut. He has led touchdown drives in response to interceptions and turned in strong showings after difficult ones. There is nothing the Vikings need more down the stretch from their quarterback than that skill.

Now at 8-2, things are getting real. The only team with a better record in the NFC is the Detroit Lions, who the Vikings lost to by two points. When the late afternoon slate games ended, the Vikings had the fourth best point differential in the league. Darnold also had his eighth game of a 100+ quarterback rating in 10 games.

There are tougher roads ahead than what the Vikings have faced in the last three weeks. They went 3-0 vs. teams that now have a combined nine wins on the season and they lucked into going against Joe Flacco rather than the talented Anthony Richardson. Up next is the Chicago Bears, who nearly defeated the Green Bay Packers on Sunday if not for a blocked field goal. And then the Vikings will see teams like Arizona, Atlanta, Seattle, Green Bay and Detroit.

There are a lot of good quarterbacks in that mix that Darnold will have to outplay. Going into that stretch, he needed a boost. Keep in mind, this is uncharted territory. Darnold just set a career high in wins for a single season. He may have once reached an “in the hunt” graphic but he’s never been a front runner.

O’Connell’s postgame message was to stay the course.

“We just got to continue to get better and prove it,” the head coach said. “8-2 means absolutely nothing. Got a divisional test on the road next week against a really tough Chicago team that we better put together really good week of prep and that's what the NFC North is. That's what it is, and that's what we know is out in front of us.”