• Sam Darnold wasn't afraid to let it rip: Darnold completed four of his six attempts targeted more than 20 yards, generating 163 passing yards and three big-time throws.
• Fantastic in every area: Darnold thrived in the red zone due to his anticipation.
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Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings came away with their 11th win of the year — and sixth straight — in Week 14, dominating through the air on their way to defeating the Atlanta Falcons. Minnesota continues to give the Lions no room to breathe in the NFC North and the race for the conference's No. 1 seed.
Darnold finished the game with a 90.9 PFF overall grade, the highest of his season and career. He almost couldn’t miss Sunday, posting an 88.0% adjusted completion percentage with a ridiculous 12.2-yard average depth of target. Typically, that high of an adjusted completion rate is paired with short, easy passes, but that wasn’t the case; Darnold constantly ripped the ball downfield.
After Kirk Cousins left in free agency this offseason, the Vikings were seemingly looking to go the rookie quarterback route until top-10 pick J.J. McCarthy suffered a season-ending injury before the year started. That left them with Sam Darnold, and while he has always been extremely talented, it’s hard to imagine anyone thought his stint in Minnesota would go this well.
Darnold is PFF’s sixth-highest graded passer through Week 14, and he showed exactly why against the Falcons.
Sam Darnold ripping a dig with anticipation. I'm a sucker for these types of throws pic.twitter.com/28sZ6vH2Cw
— Nick Akridge (@PFF_NickAkridge) December 9, 2024
A good way to tell how well a quarterback sees the field is by focusing on the middle of the field. The windows are tighter, and quarterbacks have to play with anticipation by committing to throws before they’re open. That’s exactly what Darnold does on this third-and-long in the above clip.
The Falcons are scrambling on defense but eventually settle into a Tampa 2 coverage. It’s essentially a typical Cover 2, but your usual “hole” player is now playing with more depth and carrying routes up the seams. The problem for the defense is that that deeper “hole” player has to pick a side to open, and Darnold knows that. With him opening to the wide side of the field, Darnold just needs to beat the bailing linebacker, Kaden Elliss. He trusts that the underneath route will occupy Elliss and that he’ll have room to find Justin Jefferson. He’s right, and the Vikings convert a long third down.
Darnold won’t turn down the ability to take a shot downfield. He’s tied for the most big-time throws in the NFL, with 29.
Darnold dime pic.twitter.com/7lzZkGwZgT
— Nick Akridge (@PFF_NickAkridge) December 9, 2024
In the above clip, after a heavy play-action fake, the Falcons' defense rotates to a version of Cover 3. Darnold reads the middle-of-the-field safety, thinking he will stay deep and cover the deep post. Darnold initially looks to be setting up to hit the deep over to Jefferson, but with the safety coming down to take that, he quickly flips to the deep post to Jordan Addison. It’s a ridiculous display of arm talent. He flips and throws the ball more than 55 yards in the air. While it falls incomplete, it lands directly in Addison’s hands, who can’t make the catch after being interfered with.
Similar to the middle of the field, the red zone is an area where a quarterback has to play with anticipation to overcome the tighter space.
Dart pic.twitter.com/uS37wHwGoz
— Nick Akridge (@PFF_NickAkridge) December 9, 2024
On this play, Darnold and the Vikings get a hint of the coverage the defense will be running with the pre-snap motion. Jefferson goes in motion, and the Falcons defensive back follows him — showing Darnold that it’s likely man coverage despite the two-high safety look. It does end up being man coverage, so Darnold knows exactly where to go with the ball. He has Jefferson one-on-one and knows he’ll get a step of separation due to the cornerback's leverage. He throws a great ball in a quickly collapsing pocket for another touchdown.
Darnold's arm talent was always there, and as previously mentioned, he will use any excuse to show it off.
Darnold dime (x2) pic.twitter.com/RJV1SrmovY
— Nick Akridge (@PFF_NickAkridge) December 9, 2024
This ends up being a fairly simple decision for Darnold after the Falcons show they’re playing man coverage. He knows he’ll have Addison one-on-one running a deep fade, so he simply needs to move the middle-of-the-field safety with his eyes before throwing it. He does exactly that, making the safety a bit late — but the most impressive part is the distance he gets on the throw with no room in the pocket to step up. Darnold throws flat-footed and with a defender beginning to wrap him up, and the ball travels nearly 50 yards in the air, right into Addison’s hands.
The Vikings will have quite the choice to make this offseason. Do they continue to go with the pending free agent Darnold, who is still only 27, or do they give the keys to top-10 pick J.J. McCarthy, coming off a serious knee injury? It’s a difficult question that they will eventually have to answer.
But right now, the Vikings are enjoying the version of Sam Darnold that many people thought would tear up the NFL from the onset of his career. He has the Minnesota Vikings sitting comfortably at 11-2 and one game out of the NFC's top seed.
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