The Minnesota Vikings have gotten the best out of Sam Darnold for two weeks, but whether he can be as consistent of a quarterback as his predecessor Kirk Cousins remains to be seen.
Colin Cowherd gave a fitting comparison of the two quarterbacks after Darnold led the Vikings to their first 2-0 start to the season and Cousins led the Atlanta Falcons to their first win of the season with a game-winning drive against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football.
“I always felt if you compare Sam Darnold to Kirk Cousins it would be like comparing a bake off to the ‘Iron Chef.’ Baking is more formulaic, following directions, precise, more science. Chefs, it’s more about improvisation, adapting, freestyling. It’s more art. Both are fine,” Cowherd said. “Kirk Cousins is a baker, Darnold is more the chef — a little reckless, a little more juice and flare and art. Cousins is about intense preparation. Getting to his spot. Again steady results. That’s not what you get with Darnold.”
Darnold’s improv in the pocket has proven reliable so far. He flashed his pocket presence and mobility on a 97-yard touchdown connection with Justin Jefferson and also scrambled for 18 and 16-yard gains on third down to keep drives alive in their Week 2 win over the San Francisco 49ers.
The Vikings offense has a higher upside with Darnold, but whether that can be realized will lean on whether Darnold can continue to make the right decisions with the ball and avoid “ugly games.”
“He’s an athlete, he improvs, he ad libs, more dramatic upscale touchdowns, but more ugly games. By the way, he’s not obviously Brett Favre, but Brett Favre when he was in Minnesota was sort of like that. Brett Favre was a chef… There’s no question this offense has more juice. Kirk Cousins was steadier.”
Leave a Reply