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Kevin Seifert, ESPN editor-in-chief
MINNEAPOLIS — The roar began just as Sam Darnold emerged from the Vikings’ medical tent, his injured left knee healthy enough to continue playing.
As he returned to the field after missing a third-quarter play in Minnesota’s 34-7 victory over the Houston Texans, the U.S. Bank Stadium crowd erupted in a standing ovation normally reserved for the team’s best and most popular players.
Now in his seventh NFL season, Darnold has found a fan base that is excited to see him play.
“The fans’ reaction was huge for me,” Darnold said after tying a career-high with four touchdown passes. He leads the NFL with eight touchdown passes this season and has been the biggest factor on a largely underdog team that has been one of the league’s early surprises.
The Vikings are the first team in nine seasons to start 3-0 without being favored by more than a point in those games, according to ESPN BET. Their Super Bowl odds have dropped from 100-1 to 35-1, and Darnold’s chances to win the MVP award have dropped from 100-1 to 35-1.
“They’re a special team,” said running back Aaron Jones, who rushed for 102 yards and also caught an 8-yard touchdown pass.
Jones, who is in his first year with the Vikings after seven seasons with the Green Bay Packers, has spoken with growing confidence about the team’s competitiveness this month. Before their Week 1 game against the New York Giants, Jones predicted Darnold would surprise the league. After Darnold completed his first 12 passes against the Giants en route to a 28-6 victory, Jones said he spoke with his mother about the environment he was experiencing with his new team.
“It’s definitely different than anything I’ve ever been a part of,” Jones said. “I can’t put my finger on what’s different. Because I’ve been a part of some good teams.”
“After the first game, with the atmosphere in New York, I was like, ‘Mom, I don’t know what this is. It’s not stressful. It’s just fun.’ I don’t know if it’s the guys here. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it’s special and I love it.”
ESPN Analytics gave the Vikings a 14 percent chance of making the playoffs entering the season, by far their lowest odds since ESPN began projecting playoff odds in 2015. Those expectations were based partly on Darnold, but also on a schedule that saw the Vikings face some of the NFL’s best teams in the first quarter of the season. They’ve now dismantled the Giants, soundly defeated the San Francisco 49ers (23-17) and smothered the Texans in succession. Their plus-55 margin of victory after three games is the second-best in franchise history, behind only the 1975 team.
“We knew it was coming,” said receiver Justin Jefferson, who caught six passes for 81 yards and a touchdown, all in the first half Sunday. “Obviously, we can’t predict the future, or that we’re going to finish 3-0. But we knew if this team prepared the way we knew they would, and they came out here and dominated the way we did, we knew people were going to start talking about us more.”
Jefferson jammed a finger on his right hand after catching a pass late in the first half. He said he had X-rays that showed no serious damage, and he enjoyed what he said was one of the few times in his NFL career when he could comfortably watch the fourth quarter of a game knowing the Vikings would win.
Indeed, the Vikings’ 22-point win over the Giants and Sunday’s 27-point victory were the Vikings’ two largest margins of victory since Jefferson was drafted in 2020. And they’re two of eight games the Vikings have won by more than a point since his arrival.
That can be attributed in part to the Vikings’ defense, which is the third unit in the modern NFL era to record at least five sacks and at least one interception in the first three games of a season. And some credit can be given to the crowd that turned out Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium after the Texans were assessed five false start penalties.
Darnold, however, will get the majority of the public’s attention as the Vikings turn the page on a Week 4 showdown against the Green Bay Packers. He said he will have his knee evaluated Monday and isn’t sure if it will limit him in practice this week, but he’s eager to keep moving forward.
“Everything is being played out at the highest level right now,” he said. “I think we have to keep motivating each other on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, so that we can play on Sunday and perform at a high level, because there is still room for improvement. Even the scoreboard doesn’t tell the whole story. There is still a lot of progress to be made.”
