Okay, this is a reunion made in heaven for one side.
The Minnesota Vikings visit the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday and get to reacquaint themselves with the quarterback that led them to 14 regular season wins last year. You know, the guy that just missed earning the Vikings the top seed in the playoffs but lost on the last day of the regular season to the Detroit Lions. After he lost again the next week to open the playoffs, the Vikings decision was seemingly easy to let him go and return to what they were hoping for before he arrived.
That is, having 2024 top draft choice, J.J. McCarthy, lead the team.
Well, Minnesota’s castoff, Sam Darnold, now is playing in Seattle and hasn’t missed a down this year due to injury, just like he didn’t last season while leading the Vikings into the playoffs. And the guy the Vikings chucked him out for, McCarthy, may not play again this week because of concussion protocol.
Yeah, the Vikings decision to cut Darnold loose after his end of the season losses may have been easy, but you would have trouble convincing Minnesota fans it was right.
Since Darnold stepped in to replace an injured McCarthy last season he has guided his teams to 22 regular season wins in 28 games. Fourteen of those wins were for the Vikings, and while he has led the Seattle Seahawks to eight wins in 11 games this season, the guy Minnesota kept to take over their offense has missed more games than he has played again this year due to injuries. With McCarthy and backups this season, the Vikings are in last place with a 4 and 7 NFC North Division won/loss record.
So, this reunion may be sweet for Darnold, but I’m not sure it is one that Kevin O'Connell, the Vikings head coach, is looking forward to.
Who has an advantage here?
The quarterback that knows the Vikings defense after playing with them last year, or the defense that knows their former quarterback?
While that question could be debatable, there is something that decides that in this case it definitively favors Seattle … Darnold is leading an explosive offense with the Seahawks, and the Vikings are not playing nearly as well as they did last year when he was their quarterback.
So, the Seahawks should win this week at home against a Vikings team that cut their opposing quarterback. For the books to avoid getting crushed by public money, they set a point spread that appears way too high.
The Vikings are getting 9½ points on the first line posted this week. I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t climb to double-digits before the game kicks off on Sunday at Lumen Field.
Too many?
I don’t think so.
Darnold is likely to deliver an effort that once again has the Vikings facing the prospect that they made a mistake letting him out of town.
Qoxhi Picks: Seattle Seahawks (-9½) over Minnesota Vikings