After thwarting a division rival to move to 14-2 and set up a winner-take-all showdown in Detroit in Week 18, Minnesota Vikings teammates waited for Sam Darnold to get to the locker room before water-bombing the quarterback and heroically lifting him in the air.
"It was just mayhem," Darnold said of the postgame locker room scene following a 27-25 win over Green Bay. "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 -- so, Ricky Bobby style," Darnold joked, referencing the 2006 film Talladega Nights, . "It was an interesting moment, but a fun moment, to be embraced by your teammates like that.
"That was pretty special."
Darnold was pretty special on Sunday afternoon. The quarterback generated a career-high 377 passing yards with three touchdowns and one interception. It marked his sixth game with three-plus pass TDs in 2024; he had four such games in his six previous seasons.
The 27-year-old quarterback has tortured defenses, showing the ability to avoid pressure and make the right reads. When Justin Jefferson was slowed early Sunday, Darnold spread the ball around, finding Jalen Nailor (5/81/1), Jordan Addison (6/68/1) or T.J. Hockenson (5/68) until the top receiver broke loose for a game-high 92 yards on eight catches. Darnold hit eight different targets against Green Bay.
"I'm so happy for Sam," Jones said. "Outside of these walls, nobody really believed in him, nobody really gave him a chance, but he's proven everybody wrong, and I'm just so happy for him."
Darnold has 12 games with multiple pass TDs in 2024 (second-most in the NFL behind Joe Burrow), tied for the most in a season in Vikings history (Kirk Cousins, 2020 and 2021). His 13 games with a 100-plus passer rating are tied for the second-most in a single season since 1950 (only behind Aaron Rodgers' 2020 MVP season).
"Just to see how he's ultimately been able to maximize everything about his opportunity, our football team loves him for it," coach Kevin O'Connell said. "I've had an absolute blast coaching him."
O'Connell showed his trust in the veteran quarterback. With the game on the line, the coach called three passes for his quarterback, getting Darnold out of the pocket. An incomplete pass could have aided a Packers improbable comeback. Instead, Darnold calmly completed all three, including Cam Akers going low on the final pass to pick up a first down that sealed the win.
"We can be aggressive, but he's still going to be a great decision-maker," O'Connell said. "He's playing quarterback at a very, very high level."
Darnold's high-level play has the Vikings on the precipice of the No. 1 seed. A win in Detroit next Sunday, and Minnesota can celebrate with more than just H2O.
