Quarterback Sam Darnold will go up towards certainly one of his former groups when his 8-3 Seattle Seahawks host the 4-7 Minnesota Vikings this coming Sunday.
Present Minnesota defensive coordinator Brian Flores was in that position when Darnold helped the 2024 Vikings win 14 of 17 regular-season video games. Whereas talking with reporters on Tuesday, Flores despatched a little bit of a warning to Darnold concerning what the signal-caller can anticipate to expertise at Lumen Subject on the ultimate day of November.
How Brian Flores, Vikings will assault Seahawks’ Sam Darnold
“Sam’s certainly one of my favorites,” Flores defined, per Andrew Krammer of The Minnesota Star Tribune. “He’d grown tremendously when he was right here, for positive, simply from a management standpoint. … He did lots of nice issues when he was right here, and clearly these issues are persevering with to point out up for him on the market in Seattle. … We had an ideal rapport, friendship. I’m completely satisfied for him, however we’ll blitz him this week.”
Flores noticed the very best of Darnold because the quarterback guided the Vikings to a 14-3 document final season. Nevertheless, Darnold then produced two woeful outings in back-to-back defeats that ended Minnesota’s marketing campaign.
In the course of the Vikings’ wild-card playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Darnold misplaced 82 yards on 9 sacks. He additionally tossed an interception and misplaced a second-quarter fumble that was returned for a landing.
In line with Pro Football Reference, Darnold heads into Week 13 of the continued season ranked sixth within the NFL amongst certified gamers with a 69.2 adjusted QBR, fifth with a 106.2 passer score, sixth with 2,785 whole passing yards and tied for fifth with 19 landing passes. That stated, he was intercepted 4 occasions throughout a loss to the Rams on Nov. 16.
Can Brian Flores make Sam Darnold historical past repeat itself?
“There’s some issues that lets say might have bothered him a yr in the past, however perhaps they don’t this yr,” Flores added about Darnold. “Primarily based on having seen it a number of occasions, getting extra reps at it, getting extra familiarity with a entrance or a protection. So, a yr later, it’s laborious to know. However you attempt it out and see if that also bothers him. … If it doesn’t trouble him, you progress on to one thing else. If it does, you retain working it.”
As of Wednesday morning, ESPN BET had the Seahawks as large 11.5-point favorites over the Vikings. Such a line signifies some insiders consider Darnold will not be too bothered this coming Sunday.
