Vikings QB Sam Darnold has been named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week, the NFL announced today.
In Minnesota’s 42-21 victory over the Atlanta Falcons, Darnold was 22-of-28 for a career-high 347 yards and a career-high five touchdown passes. He became the first Vikings quarterback to throw five touchdowns since Daunte Culpepper in Week 6 of the 2004 season at New Orleans.
Darnold, who earned a career-best and franchise-record 157.9 passer rating on Sunday, set the team record for the most games with a 100.0+ passer rating in a season with his 11th such performance, bettering Daunte Culpepper (2000) and Brett Favre’s (2009) record of 10 games in a season. Darnold’s 11 games with a 100.0+ passer rating tied then-rookie Dak Prescott in 2016 for the most games with a 100.0+ passer rating by a QB in his first season with a team since 1950.
Darnold engineered six scoring drives against the Falcons, leading Minnesota to its first 40-point performance in a game since Week 7 of the 2019 season at Detroit (42-30). It was also just the fifth occurrence since 2000 the Vikings scored six offensive touchdowns in a game and the first since their 2019 matchup at Detroit.
Darnold, who wins Offensive Player of the Week honors for the second time in his career, earns the nod for the first time since being tabbed the AFC Offensive Player of the Week in Week 6 of the 2019 season. It is his third different accolade this season, previously being named NFC Offensive Player of the Month for September and the Nickelodeon Valuable Player for his performance in Week 3 against the Houston Texans.
The award is the second for the Vikings in 2024 and marks the 13th NFC Player of the Week award under Vikings Head Coach Kevin O’Connell in 47 games.
VIKINGS NAMED NFC PLAYER OF THE WEEK UNDER O’CONNELL
Special Teams Greg Joseph, K 2022, Week 4, vs. New Orleans (London)
Special Teams Ryan Wright, P 2022, Week 6, at Miami
Defense Za’Darius Smith, OLB 2022, Week 8, vs. Arizona
Offense Justin Jefferson, WR 2022, Week 10, at Buffalo
Special Teams Kene Nwangwu, KR 2022, Week 12, vs. New England
Offense Kirk Cousins, QB 2022, Week 15, vs. Indianapolis
Special Teams Greg Joseph, K 2022, Week 16, vs. New York Giants
Defense Jordan Hicks, LB 2023, Week 6, at Chicago
Defense Camryn Bynum, S 2023, Week 7, vs. San Francisco
Offense Joshua Dobbs, QB 2023, Week 9, at Atlanta
Defense Ivan Pace Jr., LB 2023, Week 14, at Las Vegas
Defense Jonathan Greenard, OLB 2024, Week 3, vs. Houston
Offense Sam Darnold, QB 2024, Week 14, vs. Atlanta
(info courtesy of Minnesota Vikings)
(image courtesy of Minnesota Vikings)
