With the first three weeks of the 2024 NFL regular season officially in the books after the two games set to be played on Monday night, the biggest surprise in the league thus far has been the emergence of the new-look Minnesota Vikings being arguably the best team in the NFL right now.
The team let veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins walk in NFL free agency during the offseason, who ultimately signed with the Atlanta Falcons and brought in two players to shoulder the load under center with rookie JJ McCarthy and veteran Sam Darnold.
Although the team’s coaching staff had yet to name a starter for Week 1, the choice was made for Kevin O’Connell and company with their rookie quarterback going down with a season-ending injury before playing a snap that mattered on the NFL level.
Due to McCarthy’s unfortunate injury, the Vikings have had to turn to Darnold, which many believed might bring some unfavorable results, considering his past as a starter in this league.
However, Darnold has shocked everyone with some incredibly impressive play while leading the Vikings to a perfect 3-0 record, and former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick believes the New York Jets, who originally drafted him, may have made a mistake via The Pat McAfee Show.
“Right now, the Vikings are one of the top two or three teams in the league. Everybody has liked Sam Darnold except for the Jets,” Belichick said.
“Right now the Vikings are one of the top two or three teams in the league..
Everybody has liked Sam Darnold except for the Jets” ~ Bill Belichick #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/Q6OadTmjwl
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) September 23, 2024
After three games and three wins, Darnold has thrown for 657 passing yards, eight touchdowns (1st in the NFL) and only two interceptions, which is impressive, to say the least, for a player many had written off and considered to be a career backup on the professional level.
It’ll be interesting to see if Darnold can keep up this kind of production while continuing to lead the Vikings to wins, as this team seems to have a legitimate shot of winning the NFC North division title and potentially making a deep run in the NFL playoffs.
