Washington (AFP) – Sam Darnold, the NFL’s top touchdown passer, leads the unbeaten Minnesota Vikings against his former club, the Aaron Rodgers-sparked New York Jets, in London on Sunday. The unbeaten Vikings, off to their first 4-0 start since 2016, will face the 2-2 Jets at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the NFL’s first of three regular-season games in London this year. The winless Jacksonville Jaguars will face Chicago on October 13 at Tottenham and New England on October 20 at Wembley Stadium.
Minnesota is the NFL’s surprise team thus far with a potent attack ignited by Darnold, named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for September with an NFL-best 11 touchdown tosses, completing 73-of-106 passes for 932 yards. The only other undefeated NFL club, the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, will play host to New Orleans (2-2) on Monday night.
Darnold, 27, is the only quarterback with multiple touchdown passes in every game, his top target being receiver Justin Jefferson, who has 20 catches for 358 yards and four touchdowns. “We’ve been playing solid football,” Darnold said. “I do feel like there’s a lot of room to grow and to continue to get better.”
Darnold was chosen third in the 2018 NFL Draft by the Jets, struggling in vain to spark the team. “I had a lot of opportunities in New York and I always felt like I could have played better there,” Darnold said. There’s no revenge on Darnold’s mind after being jettisoned following three seasons where he went 13-25 and had 46 turnovers with 50 touchdowns. “I’m not really thinking about that to be honest,” Darnold said. “A lot of new faces over there.”
That includes 40-year-old Rodgers, who was a nemesis of the Vikings during his 18 seasons with division rival Green Bay, and much of a Jets defensive unit that ranks second in NFL pass defense, allowing only 128 yards a game and only two passing touchdowns in four games. “They fly around. They know their scheme inside and out and they allow their guys to go out and play fast and physical,” Darnold said of the Jets defenders. “They disguise really well, whether it’s disguising pressures or coverages.”
Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said he feels no need to caution Darnold about emotions distracting from his performance. “What Sam has done such a great job of is focusing on doing his job, leading our offense, totally diving into the game plan and how he’s going to positively run the show like he has,” O’Connell said. “Been so happy with Sam.”
After stops at Carolina and San Francisco, Darnold has found his place at Minnesota, which has averaged 29 points a game through four starts, the most through four games since 2009.
– ‘A perfect situation’ –
Vikings linebacker Blake Cashman, who spent two seasons with Darnold on the Jets, said the team has great confidence in Darnold. “I always knew Sam was this,” said Cashman. “This is a perfect situation for Sam — Sam is going to ball out and he hasn’t disappointed. He’s going to continue to lead this team and play well.”
The Vikings defensive unit leads the NFL with 17 quarterback sacks. Four clubs with 3-1 records will be home Sunday as Pittsburgh entertains Dallas, Seattle will play host to the New York Giants, Washington welcomes Cleveland and Houston faces Buffalo in a matchup of 3-1 teams. Sunday’s other NFL games include Carolina at Chicago, Baltimore at Cincinnati, Miami at New England, Indianapolis at Jacksonville, Las Vegas at Denver, Green Bay at the Los Angeles Rams and Arizona at San Francisco.
© 2024 AFP
