The Minnesota Vikings are coming off their first loss of the season. Their division rival Detroit Lions came into US Bank Stadium and stole a 31-29 victory. Still, at 5-1 Minnesota is in prime position to make a post season run this year.
As Minnesota prepares to take on the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football, rumors of a Super Bowl Champion Quarterback joining the team are ramping up.
Vikings: Super Bowl Winning QB Suddenly Pegged To Arrive In Minneapolis (Report)
During a franchise’s lifetime, it only gets so many chances to compete for a Super Bowl. Darnold has lead the Vikings to a 5-1 record after they were projected to finish last in the NFC North.
Since many of the NFC’s top teams have been hammered by injury this season, the front office may not want to see Darnold’s development through and instead accelerate their path to contention:
The calls for Matthew Stafford are growing with the analytics community beginning to pitch the Vikings should trade for the $160 million Super Bowl quarterback.
“With the Rams currently trailing to the Raiders, let me say it out loud: The Minnesota Vikings should trade for Matthew Stafford,” Pro Football Focus’ Timo Riske posted to X (formerly Twitter) on October 20.
The trade idea broke through to local affiliate Fox 9, which broke down the stakes of making the upgrade at quarterback.
“If this is starting to cave around Darnold, are you just going to let it float away downstream,” Jim Rich said before agreeing Minnesota should make the move.
In the early stages of the season, head coach Kevin O’Connell has done a good job protecting Darnold. Minnesota has attempted the third-fewest pass attempts in the league and the fewest total plays as well.
Nevertheless, Darnold has yet to be unleashed in a playoff situation where Minnesota must outrace an opponent offensively.
The Vikings’ defense won’t shut out the league’s best offenses, especially a Detroit team they’re bound to face in the postseason(who just scored 31). Averaging 30.3 points per game against Brian Flores in the past three games, the Lions have been able to outmatch him. With Flores at the helm, Minnesota has allowed just 18.9 points per game to the rest of their competition.
