Not long ago, it appeared that Sam Darnold’s days in the NFL were numbered. The No. 3 overall pick in 2018 by the New York Jets had been swapping teams in recent years and was set to be a backup to Minnesota Vikings first-round draft pick JJ McCarthy this fall. But McCarthy’s preseason knee injury forced Darnold into action, and the veteran has made the most of the opportunity. In a 34-7 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday, Darnold completed 17 of his 28 passes, hauling in just 181 yards through the air but avoiding interceptions and throwing four touchdowns to four different receivers. Darnold has been one of the league’s most efficient quarterbacks through all three weeks this season, and the Vikings are 3-0.
Darnold was a college star at Southern California, but his NFL career has largely been a series of disappointments. If Darnold had never been on the field this year, it might have been an ESPN image of him contracting mononucleosis in 2019, or maybe another moment that season when a hot mic caught Darnold so bewildered by the New England Patriots defense that he said he was “seeing ghosts.” For an early draft pick, Darnold had become a carnival ride. Until now.
Darnold is far from a top quarterback, but after three starts this season, we have enough sample size to believe his turnaround is likely real. He’s been one of the league’s best passers based on completion percentage above expectations, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats. Vikings head coach and playcaller Kevin O’Connell has let him go, letting Darnold hold the ball while receivers run their routes and then fire the ball downfield. (With an average time to throw of 3.03 seconds, Darnold has been one of the most patient passers in football this year, though his offensive line has been good enough to give him that time.) With all-world receiver Justin Jefferson at his disposal, the Vikings could continue to get strong QB play out of Darnold.
His improvement gives the Vikings a fighting chance in the NFC, but it could also provide a spark of inspiration at a time when many teams have quarterback situations that range from terrible to hopelessly mediocre. The Carolina Panthers just benched last year’s No. 1 overall pick, Bryce Young, whose career has already been a shambles due to his lack of physical tools (particularly height) and the Panthers’ poor supporting cast (though his backup, Andy Dalton, proved on Sunday that Carolina might not be as bad as we thought). The New York Giants are stuck with a pricey Daniel Jones, who has put in a few decent performances each season but has often been a liability. The Las Vegas Raiders are fielding a career backup, Gardner Minshew. And a handful of teams are banking on recent high draft picks to become much more than they’ve been. (You might find Anthony Richardson, Bo Nix and even the recently resurrected Justin Fields in that category.)
Quarterback performance across the league is a touchy subject right now. The first few weeks of the season have seen the position post historically poor statistics, and everyone has a theory as to why. Is it the hasty development of green college passers to maximize their rookie contracts? Is it a lack of refined offensive schemes in college? Is it the strategic cunning of defenses, which have loaded more safeties into the defensive backfield to tighten up the quarterbacks’ throwing lines? It all likely plays a role, and indeed, many of the quarterbacks who look like failures simply turn out to be failures.
But here’s Darnold, finally playing like a first-round quarterback in his seventh year in the NFL. It wouldn’t be right to say he’s been a zero up until this point — the Vikings gave him $10 million this year — but he’s at risk of fading even further from the spotlight. With Darnold playing well, the Vikings look like a playoff team even without McCarthy, and fans of the teams around the league that don’t have a quarterback can use Darnold’s recovery to console themselves. Maybe their Bad QB can also flip a switch one day. Though it’s not that easy: They also need an elite play-caller like O’Connell, an elite receiver like Jefferson and a little elbow grease.
MVP of the week
Malik Willis, quarterback, Green Bay PackersThe third-year quarterback began his career with the Tennessee Titans, who traded him to the Packers in the offseason. Willis was a talented prospect in 2022 when the Titans selected him in the third round. He showed little on the field in 11 appearances over two years there, so the Titans traded him to Green Bay for a seventh-round pick. Willis was set to be Jordan Love’s backup. A Week 1 MCL sprain for Love has put Willis to work the past two weeks, and he increased his record to 2-0 by beating his old team 30-14 on Sunday in Nashville. Williams completed 13 of his 19 passes for 202 yards and a score, and he added 73 yards and a touchdown on six carries. Willis offered some good perspective on his time in Tennessee this week, expressing gratitude for his time there and not sounding overly fixated on revenge against a team that gave up on him. But Willis still got a few in what may be his last start before Love returns.
Video of the week
NFL offense is a complicated tapestry, full of complexities that even seasoned football fans and media struggle to comprehend. So it’s refreshing when a team pulls off an old schoolyard trick, one of the few plays that little kids can pull off with a little luck. Enter the Detroit Lions, who tricked the Arizona Cardinals for this touchdown with a hook-and-ladder trick. The Lions went on to win 20-13, with the touchdown going down as the deciding score.
Statistics of the week
21 years and 56 daysThat was the age of Giants rookie wideout Malik Nabers on Sunday, who became the youngest player in NFL history to catch two touchdowns in a game. Nabers connected with Jones for scores of three and five yards, sliding behind the Cleveland Browns defense on a pair of occasions. Nabers, the No. 6 pick in April’s draft out of LSU, has quickly become a legitimate No. 1 receiver option for an otherwise beleaguered New York offense (and for thousands of fantasy football managers). With running back Saquon Barkley in Philadelphia, Nabers is suddenly the Giants’ big offensive star.
Elsewhere in the competition
— The Dallas Cowboys went down on their faces at home to the Baltimore Ravens, losing a 28-25 decision that may not have been as close as the score suggests. The Cowboys trailed 28-6 early in the fourth quarter and clawed their way back to almost had a chance to win the game, but they ultimately couldn’t stop Lamar Jackson and the Ravens from getting a few late first downs to kill the clock. There’s no shame in a three-point loss to a likely playoff team, but the close final score betrays just how awful the Cowboys were for most of the afternoon. Baltimore’s Derrick Henry fumbled for 151 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries, and Jackson had a typically strong day with both his arm (12 of 15 for 182 yards and a touchdown) and legs (14 carries for 87 yards and another score). Cameras caught several testy moments on the Cowboys’ sideline, including one between Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, who had just four catches for 67 yards. Prescott and Lamb are now on new contracts, with Prescott as the league’s highest-paid QB and Lamb as the No. 2 receiver. They’ll have to figure it out. Baltimore’s win puts both teams at 1-2 on the season.
— The San Francisco 49ers are also off to a 1-2 start, without star running back Christian McCaffrey, tight end George Kittle and receiver Deebo Samuel, who are all out with injuries. The surviving Niners blew a 21-7 lead at the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday afternoon to lose 27-24, shockingly dropping into last place in the NFC West. The crucial play was a 38-yard punt return of a tie game by the Rams’ Xavier Smith with 42 seconds left. It was the first touchdown of Smith’s NFL career and put the Rams at midfield. A pass interference penalty allowed rookie kicker Josh Karty in range for a 37-yard game-winner. The 49ers’ Brock Purdy and receiver Jauan Jennings scored three touchdowns in their team’s loss.
— More bad news for the Miami Dolphins. They lost their starter, Tua Tagovailoa, to a concussion earlier this season, and their backup, Skylar Thompson, left Sunday’s 24-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks with a pectoral injury. Tagovailoa will miss at least three more games.
— The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 20-10 in a battle of teams that entered Sunday with a 2-0 record. The Steelers will be bullish on a dominant defensive performance and the steady play of quarterback Justin Fields. But the biggest story for Los Angeles could turn out to be a series of injuries to key players on the team. Quarterback Justin Herbert, who was nursing a high ankle sprain, appeared to aggravate it as a swarm of Steelers tackled him in the third quarter. His Pro Bowl left tackle Rashawn Slater also left the field with an injury in the second half. And in the first quarter before that, four-time Pro Bowl defensive end Joey Bosa suffered a hip injury. None of those stars returned. Jim Harbaugh has a talented roster in his first year in Southern California, but he doesn’t have a healthy roster right now.
— Bo Nix! The rookie quarterback was selected 12th overall in the first round by the Denver Broncos in April. Nix played five college seasons and was productive toward the end of his career, but he rarely displayed classic NFL quarterback traits. In Week 2, the Pittsburgh Steelers made a fool of him by throwing two interceptions and holding Denver to six points. But in his third start, Nix earned his first win, shutting out the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26-7. Nix carried nine times for 47 yards, and his runs included a three-yard touchdown and a 22-yard breakaway. As a passer, Nix was unspectacular, totaling 216 yards (no touchdowns or interceptions) on 36 attempts (25 completions). But he didn’t give up a sack and his completion percentage was 4.3 percent better than expected, according to Next Gen Stats. Nix, who was often criticised for not passing the ball forward, was successful 2 out of 2 times on passes from more than 20 yards out from the line.
— And of course, the Kansas City Chiefs are 3-0 despite once again not playing well. Their victims this time were the Atlanta Falcons, who lost 22-17 on Sunday Night Football. Patrick Mahomes has looked as underwhelming as much of his team this season, but the best teams win even when they’re not in top form. And as we know, the Chiefs tend to get better as the season goes on.
