Vikings Coach Calls Out NFL for Treatment of Sam Darnold

It’s happened twice in as many weeks where Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold has seen the same protections that quarterbacks around the NFL are afforded.

In Week 8, Los Angeles Rams linebacker Byron Young wasn’t flagged for a facemask that allowed him to sack Darnold in the end zone to end the game. The NFL later fined him approximately $7,000 — an admission that there was a rule violation on the play.

In Week 9, Indianapolis Colts defensive lineman Grover Stewart hit Darnold across the head with his forearm and jarred the ball loose, resulting in a Colts fumble recovery touchdown. The officials said they did not have a clear view of the contact made to Darnold’s head but also picked up a flag originally called for a facemask on the play.

Head coach Kevin O’Connell came to the defense of Darnold, arguing that his knowledge of the rulebook and feedback has not been taken seriously the past two weeks.

“It’s part of my conversation especially recently in the 90-minute meetings leading into games. I’ll continue to seek as much clarity so that I know how to coach our team and our players,” O’Connell said in a news conference on Monday, November 3. “I know what the rule is. I know what the language of the rule is. And my opinion of what took place last night on that play, or maybe a play previously 10 days before that really does not matter. I’m learning that very quickly.”

Let’s hope that the Week 10 officiating crew can call a clean game and avoid testing O’Connell’s patience further.

---

Flags May Fly During Vikings-Jaguars Week 10 Matchup

The officiating crew working the Vikings’ Week 10 matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars is one of the most prudent in the league.

Sports Illustrated’s Joe Nelson took a tally of referee Adrian Hill’s crew, which have a combined 53 years of experience officiating in the NFL.

From Nelson:

Hill’s crew of officials features a mix of veterans and younger officials. Hill, the head referee, has been officiating NFL games for 15 years. Umpire Roy Ellison and back judge Greg Steed each have 22 years of experience, while line judge Greg Bradley has been in the NFL for 16 seasons.

The crew has been together for eight games this season and they’ve called 123 penalties for an average of 15.38 penalties per game — good for the fourth-highest rate this season. The average game with this crew has featured 126 yards of penalty yardage.

For context, the league average this season is 13 penalties and about 105 penalty yards per game.

---

Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell Receives High Praise From Jets’ Sauce Gardner

O’Connell has made several national headlines this week for his on-field conversation with Anthony Richardson.

He also earned some praise from New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner.

Gardner appeared on a November 7 episode of Richard Sherman’s podcast and said that O’Connell is one of the only play callers who has made him second guess himself.

“I remember when we was playing against Minnesota, and I kept second guessing a little bit because they [offensive coordinator] is nice. He is probably one of the best OCs I’ve ever played against,” Gardner said, adding that he meant O’Connell, who serves as both head coach and offensive play caller. “That’s probably one of the only games this year where I was thinking like, ‘Oh, do I really wanna gamble against him?’ … I’m looking on the side and I just see his face, like, he played quarterback. And I’m thinking like, ‘He looking too lax. Like, what’s going on? What’s about to happen here?’ It was kinda crazy man.”

Trevor Squire is a sports journalist covering the NFL and NBA for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Minnesota Vikings, Minnesota Timberwolves and Milwaukee Bucks. Trevor studied journalism at the University of Minnesota — Twin Cities, making stops at the Star Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press. You can reach him at trevor.squire@heavy.com and follow him on Twitter @trevordsquire. More about Trevor Squire