The Minnesota Vikings are one of the surprise NFL teams at 2-0.
They blew out the New York Giants in Week One and upset the San Francisco 49ers last week.
However, despite their hot start, ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith does not buy them as bigger playoff contenders over the likes of the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“I’m going to say the Vikings…I’m not a believer (in Sam Darnold) as of yet,” Smith said recently on First Take.
Per @stephenasmith, of the current 2-0
NFC teams, the @Vikings are the “least likely” to make the playoffs.Hmm? 🤔
🎥: @FirstTake pic.twitter.com/ohDR5hilol
— The Purple Persuasion (@TPPSkol) September 19, 2024
Currently on a one-year deal with the Vikings, Darnold has impressed.
He has a passer rating of over 111.0 through two weeks and has a completion percentage of 72.0%.
However, in his seven-year career, he has a career record of 23-35 and a career quarterback rating of 45.9.
He does not have the playoff experience of even players like Baker Mayfield or Geno Smith.
Beating a bad Giants team is nice and beating the 49ers without Christian McCaffrey is impressive, but he needs to produce all season long.
During Smith’s answer, he also stated that he believes the Seahawks and the Buccaneers have a better chance to make the playoffs.
Tampa Bay won the NFC South last year with Mayfield having a resurgent year.
Seattle made the playoffs two years ago with Geno Smith taking over for Russell Wilson.
These other teams that are pitted against Minnesota have experience being successful with their current quarterbacks.
As impressive as Darnold has been so far, he has not experienced the success that some of these other quarterbacks have and will need to produce all season long to flip opinions.
NEXT:
Dan Orlovsky Makes Bold Prediction About Vikings’ Defense
