MINNEAPOLIS — Inside some third-floor control room Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium, someone was pushing all the right buttons.
First, they showed a quarterback statistics leaderboard on the massive video board. Sam Darnold’s name hovered at the top. The crowd roared.
Next, the screen transitioned to receiving statistics. Jordan Addison’s and Justin Jefferson’s names topped the list, and by the time the fans noticed, the stadium was booming.
The Vikings were well on their way to their 11th victory of the season, a 42-21 win over the Atlanta Falcons. But before the clock hit zero and players on both sidelines funneled onto the field for the postgame pleasantries, a celebration was building. The operator toggled between the two leaderboards — Darnold’s production and the receiving statistics. Then, as the place pumped with energy, the camera panned to Darnold.
He stalked the sideline, hollered at teammates and aggressively twirled a towel. Earplugs felt necessary given the fans’ reactions.
TURN US ALL THE WAY UP SAMMY D!!! pic.twitter.com/rknyP64XCY
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) December 8, 2024
“I feel like I couldn’t just sit there stoic, straight-faced,” Darnold said afterward. “I feel like I had to show a little emotion for the fans. Gave them what they wanted.”
It felt like the spotlight homing in on the star of the show — and that star taking a bow. Rather than a simple ovation for Darnold’s 22-for-28, 347-yard, five-touchdown outing, the crowd chanted, “MVP! MVP! MVP!”
GO DEEPER
Darnold’s 5 TDs lead Vikings to 42-21 win over Cousins’ Falcons: Takeaways
Debating his case in depth is a discussion for another day, but his recent play should at least put him in the discussion. In his last four games, Darnold has thrown 11 touchdown passes without an interception. On the season, he has the third-highest passer rating in the NFL behind Lamar Jackson and Jared Goff.
His 3,299 passing yards rank fifth in the NFL. His completion percentage is seventh-best. And his 28 passing touchdowns slot him third. Darnold’s five-touchdown day was the first for a Vikings quarterback in 20 years. Three-time Pro Bowler Daunte Culpepper accomplished the feat in October 2004.
Hence the aggressive towel-waving, which caught teammates off-guard to the point that they were laughing and marveling at the response.
“I just felt the buzz,” Darnold said.
Whoever was controlling the video board did not want that buzz to die down, so the feed cut over to Jefferson, who grinned so wide you could see his teeth. It almost sounds silly to suggest a player who had caught 68 passes for 1,038 yards before Sunday’s game had been having a frustrating season, but that’s the truth.
Recent opponents had gone to great lengths to limit his production, forcing the ball elsewhere. Before Sunday, he had not notched a 100-yard receiving game in more than a month. He had not hauled in a touchdown pass since Week 7 in the middle of October. Both facts frustrated him, and even though the Vikings didn’t target him until late in the second quarter Sunday, he remained engaged.
The reward? A seven-catch, 132-yard, two-touchdown afternoon. Jefferson motioned like a yo-yo before his first touchdown, climbing up to the second level and snatching a pass with outstretched hands.
Darnold to Jettas 🔥
📺: #ATLvsMIN on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/FHBwayOFyP
— NFL (@NFL) December 8, 2024
His second score was what coach Kevin O’Connell called the most impressive Darnold moment of the day. Falcons safety Justin Simmons looped around on a blitz, flushing Darnold from the pocket. Darnold sidestepped him, moved up in the pocket and extended the play toward the right sideline. He had room to scramble if he wanted to, but the alternative intrigued him. Downfield, Jefferson had settled in an open patch of grass. Spotting Jefferson, Darnold launched the pass 45 yards downfield. The Falcons defensive back fell, and Jefferson waltzed into the end zone untouched.
DARNOLD JETTAS 52-YARD TD 🚨
📺: #ATLvsMIN on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/ZywUjIuoD4
— NFL (@NFL) December 8, 2024
On the Vikings sideline afterward, O’Connell held Darnold’s helmet and passed along his support. What did he say to the quarterback?
“I’m not going to tell you what I told him in regards to my opinion on how many guys in this league can make that throw,” O’Connell said.
Once Jefferson earned his face time, the camera found Addison, who relaxed on the bench with a Vikings hat high atop his head. Addison was rightfully enjoying himself. He was Jefferson’s wingman in precisely the way the organization envisioned when it drafted him in 2023.
Addison added eight catches for 133 receiving yards and three touchdowns, doing his damage in a host of ways. He tracked a fluttering Darnold throw out of the sky and transported it to the end zone. He separated in one-on-one coverage and grabbed passes with defenders draped over him down the field. He ran out cuts and in cuts and return routes. He euro-stepped with Jefferson. They did the Griddy together.
Jordan Addison does not catch normal touchdowns. It’s just a fact.
📺: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/nWWhVGDRU0
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) December 8, 2024
And now he was taking it all in as the 67,008 in attendance belted “Mr. Brightside.” Down on the sideline, some of the Vikings players and coaches were looking up into the crowd and at the video screens, wondering who would be highlighted next. The operator went back to Jefferson, who turned toward the camera and pointed. Then it motioned up toward the fans, who were clapping, cheering and drinking to a team that has surpassed even the most optimistic of expectations.
“Looking around, everybody was having a good time,” Vikings right tackle Brian O’Neill said. “It was one of the coolest end-of-game environments.”
Afterward, the subject most talked about was not former Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, now of the Falcons, who threw for 344 yards and two interceptions in his return to Minnesota, but the man who got an opportunity because of Cousins’ departure: Darnold.
O’Neill joked, “If I was a quarterback and I threw for five touchdowns, I’d probably stand up and wave a towel, too. … A special day for him.”
As he watched Darnold’s burst of emotion, Addison hollered, “Yeah, Sam, talk your s—!”
“When you have a result like this, everyone’s going to talk about the result. I hope they do,” O’Connell said. “But for me and Sam and our team, there’s not many guys in the locker room that are surprised about the performance he had today.”
Darnold’s towel-waving felt like a release of pent-up pride. Not a response to those who doubted him, but more so validation of the belief he has in himself.
He would not say this. His show of emotion was far enough out of character. But the fans’ joining in his joy is something special on its own. It’s the feeling of being embraced by a town, a team and its fans, a feeling he’s sought since he left USC six-plus years ago.
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(Top photo: Matt Krohn / Imagn Images)