Sam Darnold breaks Vikings record with impressive final performance

Through impressive weeks, Sam Darnold is proving that there is nothing random about the way he plays and produces as he begins his Vikings career.

Darnold scored three more goals in the first half Vikings’ wild 31-29 victory over Packers Sunday gave him a league-leading 11 strikeouts on the season. He also set a franchise record by becoming the first Vikings quarterback to open a season with at least a 100 passer rating in four consecutive games.

More specifically, Darnold’s passer rating was at least 109 in each of the first four games; This included a season-high 123.4 points in Green Bay. Other players with a passer rating above 109 and multiple touchdown passes in at least four consecutive games to open a season are Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Matt Ryan and Russell Wilson. This group has nine Super Bowl rings and eight MVPs.

“I have really high confidence in him,” Kevin O’Connell said.

Darnold also set season highs in completions (20) and yards (275) in this game. They appeared to be on their way to a truly tremendous statistical performance, but the Vikings’ offense as a whole was hampered after taking a 28-0 lead at halftime.

Yet for the second time in three weeks, the Vikings found themselves leaning on their quarterback when they needed a big play to end the game. Just as Darnold managed to take a 23-14 lead against the 49ers in Week 2, he also helped his team take a 31-22 lead in the fourth quarter on Sunday. Darnold completed four straight passes for 60 yards on that drive to take the momentum back from the Packers and the raucous Lambeau Field crowd.

“I think you have to have that mentality,” Darnold said. “You can’t think about what could happen, what happened, what comes back. You always have to keep the mentality of being one foot in front of the other, one foot in front of the other. As long as we keep going. If we have that mentality offensively, I feel like we’ll be fine as a whole team.”

The 4-0 Vikings continue to pile on wins, and their quarterback is a big reason why. Darnold is everything they hoped for when they signed him this summer — and more.