KOC on Sam Darnold after Vikings beat 49ers: ‘We always believed in him’
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell went to the podium after Sunday’s 23-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers and took a brief pause before starting to talk about Sam Darnold.
"The amount of work that goes into that position, on your quarterback journey, when everybody decides that you cannot play, we always believed in him," O’Connell said, nearly getting choked up. "Awesome to watch him go do that. He’s playing quarterback at a really high level."
Darnold went 17-of-26 for 268 yards, two touchdowns and one interception on Sunday.
Why it matters
Darnold is trying to resurrect his career after being drafted No. 3 overall by the New York Jets in 2017. He never stuck, left after three seasons and spent two with the Carolina Panthers. He spent last year as Brock Purdy’s back-up in San Francisco. Sunday, he beat his former team.
The 97-yard touchdown
Backed up at their own 3-yard line, Darnold hit Jefferson for a 97-yard touchdown to give the Vikings a 10-0 lead in the second quarter. The ball traveled 54 yards in the air, and hit Jefferson in stride.
"It was a great ball by Sam. Always dreamt of a 95-plus yarder," Jefferson said.
"The 97-yarder was one of the prettiest throws I’ve seen," O’Connell said.
"Just trusting Jets to obviously beat his man, but also beat the safety. Just tried to put it out there for him and obviously he got it and did the rest," Darnold said. "When he cut back, that’s when I knew we were going to score on that play."
The drive
Maybe most impressive was his drive in the fourth quarter that ended with a Will Reichard field goal to give the Vikings a 23-14 lead with 3:30 to play. Jefferson left the game with a quad injury, leaving Jalen Nailor, Brandon Powell and Trishton Jackson as his receivers, Johnny Mundt at tight end and Ty Chandler as his running back after Aaron Jones got dinged up.
Darnold led the Vikings on a 14-play, 62-yard drive that put them up two scores. The 49ers had no timeouts left. Last week, Darnold threw for 208 yards and two touchdowns in a win over the Giants.
"That is big-time quarterback play. All those folks out there that want some examples of it, I think we got two weeks of some pretty tangible examples from Sam Darnold," O’Connell said.
‘We’ve put in the time to have confidence'
The Vikings turned to Darnold, with Kirk Cousins leaving in free agency. They drafted J.J. McCarthy No. 10 overall, and he was pushing Darnold until suffering a torn meniscus in the preseason.
Darnold is on a one-year deal, hoping for a long-term deal somewhere after 2024 if it’s not in Minnesota. He’s playing the best football of his career.
"We’ve put in the time to have the confidence. Everyone in our organization has trust and confidence in everybody. We’ve been building it since April," Darnold said.