#498: CRAZY FACTS about Sam Darnold's MELTDOWN in Minnesota Vikings win vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

#498: CRAZY FACTS about Sam Darnold's MELTDOWN in Minnesota Vikings win vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

November 11, 2024 • 8 min

Episode Description

Minnesota Tim discusses the Minnesota Vikings' recent victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars, focusing on quarterback Sam Darnold's performance. Despite Darnold's significant struggles, including three interceptions and poor red zone efficiency, the Vikings managed to win the game, marking a rare occurrence in NFL history. The discussion highlights the complexities of Darnold's play, the team's offensive challenges, and the defense's crucial role in securing the win.

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.

Speaker 1 (00:06):
A performance that we need to discuss following the Minnesota
Vikings thrilling twelve to seven victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars
was the performance of Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold, because
he has clearly fallen off a cliff from where he

(00:27):
was at the beginning of the season. First few games
of the season. Eleven touchdowns, three interceptions, MVP conversation. This
guy resurrected his career. Are the Vikings going to resign
him to a big contract? Are they gonna let him
walk in free agency in a team like the Raiders
or the Giants or some other squad is going to

(00:49):
pick him up, And the Vikings are going to be
left only with ja Jon McCarthy next year. And he's
never started a game. What are the Minnesota Vikings going
to do well? Since then, he's regressed and it's been
a big regression. You know, he's missing wide receivers wide open,
he's only targeting Justin Jefferson and has tunnel vision towards him,

(01:11):
and he's throwing interceptions. And now the Jacksonville Jaguars game happened.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
And this is such an interesting game to.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
Analyze, partially because one he played so bad in the
red zone area. Three interceptions, zero touchdowns. You know, the
first pick to Justin Jefferson got tipped and it went
to a defender. His second interception was a ball thrown

(01:46):
to Justin Jefferson into the end zone and it was
two feet behind him. His third interception should have found
Justin Jefferson in the corner of the end zone, threw
it two feet behind him. His accuracy is nowhere close
to where it needs to be right now. But what's
so fascinating about it is that, let's just pretend that

(02:12):
the Minnesota Vikings.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
We don't need to pretend.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
Actually, the Minnesota Vikings put up twelve points in this.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
Game, four field goals.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
They also had the opportunity to score three more times
in this game. Let's just pretend those are touchdowns. Nineteen
twenty six thirty three. The Minnesota Vikings had an opportunity
to put up thirty three points in this football game.

(02:46):
Which tells me something. It tells me that on almost
every single possession the Minnesota Vikings had, they drove the
ball down the field as bad as Sam Donald was.
Somehow the Minnesota Vikings moved the ball and Ryan Wright

(03:10):
only had two punts in this football game. So as
bad as Donald was, he still drove the football down
the field for the Minnesota Vikings to score points. But
when he got down the field, he just threw an
interception almost every single time, which is something I don't

(03:33):
think I've ever.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
Seen before, Like, how can you be so.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
Bad yet drive the football down the field on almost
every single possession. And there's some statistics that were interesting
in some facts about this game that were mind boggling.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
It's like when your mind's in a bottle.

Speaker 1 (03:53):
But here Sam Donald's stat line for the game, and
I'll share the screen with my YouTube watchers. Twenty four
for thirty eight two hundred and forty one yards, zero touchdowns,
three picks, only one sack for eight yards. One thing
Donald did do a good job of in this game
is scrambling out of the pocket when they needed.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
To and getting some yards.

Speaker 1 (04:13):
He had seven carris for twenty eight yards, a QBR
for thirty three point six, and a passer rating of
forty eight point two. The Minnesota Vikings defense carried them
to a victory in this game.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
They put the offense.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
On the back of their shoulders because Mac Jones the
Jacksonville Jaguars couldn't do anything. And here's another stat. Sam Donald,
This comes from Kevin Seffert on Twitter now leads the
NFL with thirteen turnovers. He gets credit for a fumble

(04:54):
on ty Chandler's dropped to pitch in Week five, which
was on ty Chandler, not Sam Donald. Regardless, Kevin O'Connell
effuse effusively expressed confidence in him postgame.

Speaker 2 (05:10):
It would be craziness not to so the question that.

Speaker 1 (05:16):
Kevin O'Connell was referring to, and it would be crazy
not to, as you know, the belief in Sam Donald.
But then there was a question whether or not the
Vikings should bench Sam Donald in this football game because
of his poor performance and substitute Nick Mullins. The problem

(05:37):
with Nick Mullins is that he is the exact same
as Sam Donald. It's not like you're taking out Sam
Donald and you're putting in a conservative guy who's gonna
be safe with the football near the red zone. Nick
Mullens is the craziest guy I've ever seen with the
football in his hands. This guy makes throws that I've

(05:57):
never seen any quarterback make before because he's such a
risky thrower of the football.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
It's entertaining, but it's risky.

Speaker 1 (06:05):
And the problem with substituting Nick Bullens is what I
was talking about before.

Speaker 2 (06:12):
Sam Darnold led.

Speaker 1 (06:14):
Drives, led six drives, four drives because the Vikings scored
four field goals and had three picks near the red zone,
had seven drives of of.

Speaker 2 (06:31):
Points that could have happened.

Speaker 1 (06:33):
So it's one of those situations where you know, you
played so bad in the red zone, but up to
the red zone he was playing pretty good.

Speaker 2 (06:40):
He was hitting TJ. Hockinson and all.

Speaker 1 (06:42):
These drives, he's hitting Josh Oliver on all these drives,
he's hitting his tight ends, and the Minnesota Vikings rushing
game was decent. Then they're getting down the field almost
on every single time, and then you just fall apart
in the red zone. So there's a lot of correctable
mistakes in this game, even though he performed so badly.

(07:03):
Just don't throw an interception when you're at the twenty
yard line and about to score. So, yeah, he was bad,
but there's also a lot to like about this. And
somehow the Minnesota Vikings pulled off the impossible and won

(07:24):
this football game because the statistics that they put up
were crazy. This never happens, so anyway, thank you for
making this podcast part of your day, and hit that
subscribe button right there.

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