If there was any debate left, it ended in a shower of cheers and water — on the shoulders of teammates and celebrated by the Minnesota Vikings’ social media account — in full view of head coach Kevin O’Connell, who looked on with a smile as he watched Sam Darnold get hoisted into the air.
The Vikings have their quarterback. A week from now, they may have the NFC’s No. 1 playoff seed, too.
After a rousing 27-25 win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, which gave Darnold his 14th win as a starter this season — more than any quarterback in a single season in Vikings history and the most ever by an NFL QB in his first year with a team — the debate about his future has likely ended. As the locker room door closed behind him Sunday, the closing argument for his future as a Viking locked into place, too. Waiting inside, his teammates screamed in celebration and sprayed him with water, lifting him up as the locker room sung in unison as Darnold smiled and raised his hands up into a little groove.
The team’s X account framed a video of the moment with a statement that says it all: “THAT’S OUR FREAKING QUARTERBACK”.
This is what a galvanized locker room looks like, stepping behind a starting QB who continues to put in work worthy of MVP consideration through 16 games: 4,153 passing yards, 35 touchdown passes versus 12 interceptions, a 68 percent completion rate and a 14-2 record that has delivered the Vikings to the doorstep of the NFC’s No. 1 seed and home-field advantage through the conference title game. It’s the kind of thing a team would celebrate, even if it comes one week before facing the Detroit Lions in a game that will decide that top seed.
“A lotta water bottles — a lot of water,” Darnold said of the postgame scene in Minneapolis. “It was mayhem. I think I blacked out when Aaron Jones grabbed me and lifted me up. I didn’t know what to do with my hands in that situation, Ricky Bobby style. It was an interesting moment but a fun moment, to be embraced by your teammates like that.”
Afterward, O’Connell dubbed it a “phenomenal moment.”
“It was really cool,” the Vikings head coach said. “I’m just so proud of him. There’s so many things that lead into moments like this for Sam, since he became a Minnesota Viking, just to see how he’s ultimately been able to maximize everything about his opportunity. Our football team loves him for it and I’ve had an absolute blast coaching him.”
It again underscores a decision the Vikings will now seemingly have to make in a few months: Retaining Darnold either on the franchise tag in 2025 or with a new long-term contract that goes much longer — despite drafting J.J. McCarthy with the 10th overall pick in April. Not just because of the overall numbers that Darnold has put up this season or even the stellar record under his belt, but also because it’s become clear that O’Connell now trusts him in the most vital moments that can have a massive impact on a season.
Sunday was precisely that, facing a postseason-bound Packers team in a must-win game if the Vikings wanted to remain on pace to challenge the Lions for that No. 1 overall seed in the NFC playoffs. How did O’Connell respond? By effectively putting the game in Darnold’s hands twice — first by tilting the play-calling into a pass-heavy rhythm that resulted in Darnold throwing 43 times (versus only 18 runs), and then by balancing the final drive on Darnold’s arm when the Vikings needed a first down to ice it late in the fourth quarter.
Needing two first downs to burn off Green Bays timeouts and end the game, O’Connell dialed up three passes and one run. That’s no small thing for a quarterback who is playing for O’Connell for the first time, not to mention spending his first season running O’Connell’s version of the Shanahan offense.
In a way, it showcases what O’Connell has insisted to anyone who has bothered to ask over the past few months. This is real, sustainable success; and that the success is built squarely around Darnold in the saddle. Indeed, Darnold has had O’Connell’s confidence for awhile now. And Sunday, the rest of the locker room stamped its own approval with a sledgehammer, in a moment that doesn’t happen that often inside NFL teams, particularly when it’s not accentuating capturing a division crown, locking down a playoff spot or winning a Super Bowl.
The only question is where this goes now, with the Vikings headed to Detroit for a finale that will close the 2024 regular season. That Week 18 tilt was flexed into the “Sunday Night Football” slot, making it the last game before the playoffs. The winner takes the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage through the NFC playoffs. The loser drops all the way down to the No. 5 seed and has to open on road in the first round.
For the Vikings, who are one of the healthiest teams in the NFL right now, that’s a daunting reality. But for the Lions — who are down multiple key starters on defense and also without centerpiece running back David Montgomery — it could have massive implications on their playoff run. All of this makes Sunday’s matchup a de facto playoff game for both teams.
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And make no mistake, despite the Lions boat-racing their way through this season and finding ways to beat teams despite mounting injuries, the Vikings may be their most difficult offensive challenger left in the NFC — unless the Philadelphia Eagles can gain a fully healthy Jalen Hurts back for the playoffs. But until that happens, the Lions will have to contend with Minnesota boasting four monumentally difficult matchups at the skill position spots, including wideouts Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, as well as former Lions tight end T.J. Hockenson and running back Aaron Jones.
If that wasn’t enough, Minnesota also found the “on” switch for its No. 3 receiver, Jalen Nailor, against Green Bay on Sunday. An X-factor for the Vikings earlier in the first five weeks of the season, Nailor had largely gone forgotten in the offense until the win over the Packers, which saw him catch a season-high five passes for 81 yards and a touchdown. All while a sometimes-maligned offensive line held an often-effective Green Bay pass rush to only one sack.
Needless to say, if the Lions are going to earn that No. 1 seed, they’re going to do it against a team that should scare every NFC Super Bowl contender right now. Because the Vikings officially have their “freaking” quarterback, and he’s showing no signs of stopping this season’s improbable run of answers anytime soon.
But really, there’s just one thing left about Darnold’s future: He has won the Vikings over and locked down the starting job beyond 2024 — can he add a No. 1 playoff seed and Super Bowl run to it?