Sam Darnold’s renaissance offers hope for the quarterback scrapheap

Nn long ago, it looked like Sam Darnold’s days in the NFL were numbered. The No. 3 overall pick in 2018 by the New York Jets had been moving around in recent years and was set to be a backup to Minnesota Vikings first-round draft pick JJ McCarthy this fall. A knee injury to McCarthy forced Darnold into action, however, and the veteran has made the most of the opportunity. In a 34-7 argument against the Houston Texans on Sunday, Darnold completed 17 of his 28 passes, collecting 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 in all three weeks this season, and the Vikings are 3-0.

Darnold was a college star at Southern California, but his NFL career has been a series of disappointments. If Darnold had never been on the field this year, it’s possible the defining image of his career would have been an ESPN image From the moment he was diagnosed with mononucleosis in 2019, or perhaps another moment that season when a hot mic caught Darnold getting so flustered 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 still far from a top-tier quarterback, but after three starts this season, we have enough of a 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 the receivers run their routes and then fire the ball downfield. (With an average throw time of 3.03 seconds, Darnold is one of the most patient passers in football this year, though his offensive line is 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 are dealing with 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 in shambles due to his lack of physical tools (particularly height) and the Panthers’ lousy supporting cast (though backup Andy Dalton proved that on Sunday Carolina might not be as bad as we thought). The New York Giants are stuck with a pricey Daniel Jones, who has a few nice performances each season but is often a liability. The Las Vegas Raiders are fielding a career backup in Gardner Minshew. And a handful of teams are banking on recent high draft picks to become much more than they have been. (In that category, you might find Anthony Richardson, Bo Nix and even the recently resurgent Justin Fields.)

Quarterback performance across the league is a touchy subject right now. The first few weeks of the season have seen the position to post historically bad statisticsAnd 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 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 Packers. The 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. An MCL sprain in Week 1 for Love has kept Willis in service the past two weeks, and he increased his record to 2-0 by beating his old team on Sunday in Nashville. 30-14. 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 a nice perspective on his time in Tennessee this week, express gratitude for his time there and didn’t sound overly fixated on exacting revenge on a team that gave up on him. But Willis did get a few in what may be his final start before Love returns to the fold.

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 won 20-13where the touchdown was the decisive score.

Statistics of the week

21 years and 56 daysThat was the age of Giants rookie wideout Malik Nabers on Sunday, who 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 fell flat on their faces at home against the Baltimore Ravens and lost 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 and are without star running back Christian McCaffrey, tight end George Kittle and receiver Deebo Samuel, who are all injured. The remaining Niners blew a 21-7 lead at the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday afternoon to lose 27-24which left them in a surprise 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 touch of Smith’s NFL career and put the Rams at midfield. A pass interference penalty allowed rookie kicker Josh Karty to make 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, sat out Sunday’s 24-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks with a chest injuryTagovailoa will miss at least three more games.

— The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Los Angeles Chargers, 20-10in a battle between teams that entered Sunday with a 2-0 record. The Steelers will be optimistic about a dominant defensive performance and the steady play of quarterback Justin Fields. But The biggest story for Los Angeles could be a rash of injuries to the team’s key players. Quarterback Justin Herbert, nursing a high ankle sprain, appeared to aggravate it as a swarm of Steelers tackled him in the third quarter. His fellow 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 right now he doesn’t have a healthy roster.

— 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 showed classic NFL quarterback traits. In Week 2, the Pittsburgh Steelers made a fool of him by taking him twice and holding Denver to six points. But in his third start, Nix earned his first win by 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 better than expected at 4.3%. according to Next Gen statisticsNix, 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.