The Minnesota Vikings offense has been no stranger to the record books this season. Despite many believing 2024 would be a down season for the Vikings after handing the reigns over to Sam Darnold, the Vikings have exceeded all expectations to become one of the top offenses — and teams — in the entire league.
The tandem of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison has been instrumental in the Vikings’ success this season, with both players topping 800 yards and grabbing 8+ touchdowns. They also became the first tandem in team history to have 100+ yards, and each of them caught two touchdowns in their game against Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons.
In the team’s second game against the Chicago Bears this season, Darnold and running back Aaron Jones got in on the assault on the Vikings’ record books. In that game, the Vikings had their first game with a 300+ yard passer, 100+ yard rusher, and two 100+ yard receivers in more than 20 years.
On Sunday, though, it wasn’t just the team record books that a member of the Vikings had their eyes on, it was the NFL record books. Darnold etched both his name and the Vikings as a team in the record books on Sunday with his performance against the Seattle Seahawks. On an individual note, Darnold finished the game with a quarterback rating of 112.3, making Sunday the 12th game. Darnold has had a quarterback rating of over 100, which is an NFL record for a quarterback in his first season with a team.
Darnold wasn’t done there, however. With his three touchdown passes on Sunday, Darnold not only extended his career-high mark to 32, he also made history for the Minnesota Vikings. With Darnold’s first touchdown, his 30th of the season, the Vikings became the first team in league history to have six quarterbacks with one or more seasons of 30+ touchdown passes. Darnold joins Kirk Cousins, Brett Favre, Daunte Culpepper, Randall Cunningham, and Warren Moon in that illustrious club.
Pretty good for a quarterback that nearly everyone counted out at the beginning of the season.
