Vikings QB Sam Darnold has been named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for the month of September, the NFL announced today.
Leading the Vikings to their first 4-0 start since 2016, Darnold was 73-of-106 (68.9%) for 932 passing yards and 11 touchdowns in four games in September. He leads the NFL in touchdown passes, percentage of touchdowns thrown per attempt (10.4%) and passer rating (118.9), and ranks second in yards per attempt (8.8), trailing Brock Purdy (9.3).
Darnold’s 11 touchdown passes to start the season are three more than any other quarterback in the NFL (Baker Mayfield, eight), and tied Tommy Kramer (1986) and Kirk Cousins (2023) for the second-most touchdown passes through the first four games of a season in team history behind Daunte Culpepper’s 2004 performance (13 touchdown passes). Darnold was the only quarterback to record multiple passing touchdowns in every game to start the 2024 season, including recording four touchdown passes in Week 3 against Houston and three at Green Bay in Week 4.
Darnold, who became the first quarterback in franchise history to post a 100+ passer rating in each of the team’s first four games of a season, led a Vikings offense that averaged 29 points per game during the month of September. It marked the most points per game by Minnesota in Weeks 1-4 since the 2009 season (29.5).
The award is Darnold’s first Player of the Month accolade. He is the 13th different Viking to win NFC Offensive Player of the Month honors and the second player under Vikings Head Coach Kevin O’Connell, joining WR Justin Jefferson (November, 2022).
ALL-TIME VIKINGS NFC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE MONTH
1995 Warren Moon, QB November
1997 Jake Reed, WR September
1998 Randall Cunningham, QB October
1999 Cris Carter, WR November
2000 Robert Smith, RB November
2003 Daunte Culpepper, QB September
2004 Daunte Culpepper, QB October
2009 Brett Favre, QB November
2012 Adrian Peterson, RB December
2015 Adrian Peterson, RB November
2017 Case Keenum, QB November
2019 Kirk Cousins, QB October
2020 Dalvin Cook, RB November
2021 Justin Jefferson, WR November
2022 Justin Jefferson, WR November
2024 Sam Darnold, QB September
(info courtesy of Vikings)
