The Big Lead

Bill Belichick trolls Jets with praise of Vikings QB Sam Darnold

By Joe Lago

Sep 22, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) throws a pass for a touchdown against the Houston Texans in the first quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images
Sep 22, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) throws a pass for a touchdown against the Houston Texans in the first quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images / Brad Rempel-Imagn Images
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The Minnesota Vikings are the NFL's most surprising team three weeks into the 2024 NFL season. They sit atop the NFC North with a 3-0 record and have scored the second-most points in the league behind a revitalized Sam Darnold, who has thrown an NFL-best eight touchdown passes.

Execution on the field is only part of the blueprint for football success. Teams need a lot of luck along the way as well, especially when it comes to injuries.

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On Monday, the Vikings were fortunate to discover that Darnold's knee injury in Sunday's 34-7 victory against the Houston Texans isn't serious. An MRI revealed that the quarterback only has a knee bruise and is expected to not miss any time.

Minnesota and Darnold were popular topics for sports talk shows on Monday. "The Pat McAfee Show" gave them their flowers during its weekly visit with Bill Belichick, who's been ubiquitous this season in his new role of NFL analyst.

Belichick provided insight about the Vikings' new identity as a team to beat and new challenge as the NFC North leader.

"I don't think anybody's looking past Minnesota, not that they were before, but I don't think anybody's looking past them now," Belichick said. "And probably their opponents coming up in the future are saying, 'Hey, this is how we measure our program, how do we (measure) right now against one of the top two or three teams in the league."

That's when the New England Patriots coaching legend couldn't resist taking a shot at one of his former AFC East rivals — the New York Jets, who drafted Darnold third overall in 2018 but traded him to the Carolina Panthers just three years later.

"Everybody has liked Darnold, except the Jets," Belichick said. "The people at Carolina that I talked to, they really liked him. He was at the Rams, not for very long, and they liked him, and I think they wanted to re-sign him (but) he was looking for more of an opportunity than play behind (Matthew) Stafford. I know that Kevin (O'Connell) and some of the coaches at Minnesota, they really like this guy too.

"So it seemed like the only people who didn't like Darnold were at the Jets."

Belichick sought another NFL head coaching position after parting ways with the Patriots in January. He interviewed with the Atlanta Falcons before they hired Raheem Morris. Surely, a football franchise could still gain from the six-time Super Bowl champion's wealth of wisdom.

Until he gets that next coaching gig, NFL fans will continue to benefit from Belichick thriving in media and speaking his mind.

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