Kevin O’Connell: I don’t think anyone’s surprised by how Sam Darnold played today

Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell called quarterback Sam Darnold‘s effort in Sunday’s 28-6 win over the Giants a “huge performance for us to be able to build off” as they move into the rest of the season.

Darnold completed his first 12 passes of the game and led a 99-yard touchdown drive in the first half to help the Vikings get out to a big lead at MetLife Stadium. Darnold added another touchdown throw in the third quarter and finished his first start in purple 19-of-24 for 208 yards.

“I don’t think anybody’s surprised that Sam Darnold played the way he did today,” O’Connell said. “I know I’m certainly not. I tried to foreshadow as much as I could throughout training camp, so I’m just proud of him.”

The Vikings will be at home against the 49ers next week and Darnold knows them well after playing for the NFC West team last season. He’ll try to put that information to use and move his new team to 2-0 on the season.