Darnold’s Job Security: Vikings Fans Not Worried About a…
It’s that time of the week when we take a look at our SB Nation Reacts results concerning the Minnesota Vikings for this week. We’ve got a few things we need to go over here, so let’s get to them right away.
First off, we always ask whether or not our fans think that the purple are heading in the right direction, and after a victory that could charitably be described as “ugly,” the confidence of the fan base has taken a bit of a hit.
This week, 77% of our respondents said that they believe that the Vikings are going in the right direction. This is just the third time this season that number has been out of the 90s and the second-lowest figure we’ve seen this season, trailing the 74% that number was at following the team’s two-game losing streak. Yes, the win over Jacksonville won’t be replayed any time soon by most fans, but a win is a win and the Vikings are still sitting pretty in the NFC playoff hunt at this point. Things could be significantly worse.
Along those lines, we asked if there was any reason to think that the Vikings might bench quarterback Sam Darnold at some point. Sure, they’ll sit him if he gets hurt, but otherwise? It doesn’t appear that a lot of Vikings fans are seeing that in the future.
Only 15% of those who responded to our poll think that the Vikings should consider benching Darnold for performance reasons. Darnold’s past couple of games haven’t been artistic or anything, but there isn’t really a good alternative behind him at this point. After all, we watched the Nick Mullens Show a few times last year, and the big issue there was turning the ball over, too. It’s ride or die with Darnold for 2024, it would appear.
Lastly, we have a look at the betting action on this week’s game from the folks at FanDuel, and it looks like a lot of gambling types still have confidence in this team.
A full 84% of those who are putting their money down on this week’s game think that the Vikings will cover a 6.5-point spread. Last week’s final score would not have covered that number, but maybe the Vikings will pull it together a little more this week. We can only hope.
