Stephen A. Smith Made Embarrassing Mistake During Rant About Sam Darnold
01/02/2025 04:04 PM
Stephen A. Smith used false information to downplay Sam Darnold's breakout season.
Before the Minnesota Vikings face the Detroit Lions for the NFC North and conference's No. 1 seed, Darnold got named to his first Pro Bowl on Thursday. He's obliterated previous career-highs with 4,153 passing yards and 35 touchdowns this season.
The Vikings can enter the playoffs with a 10-game winning streak and home-field advantage if they beat the Lions on Sunday Night Football. However, Smith tried to "pump the breaks" on celebrating Darnold's success.
Smith should have looked closer at Darnold's game log before discussing the quarterback on Thursday's First Take.
"The man hasn't thrown for 300 yards since November 24th against Chicago," Smith inaccurately said, via Awful Announcing. "I mean, I'm just throwing that out there. Let's not act like this is the second coming of Dan Marino."
Darnold has played in five games since pairing 330 passing yards with three touchdowns in a Week 12 overtime win over the Chicago Bears. He's cleared 300 yards in two of them.
On Dec. 8, Darnold accrued 347 passing yards (and five touchdowns) in a 42-21 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Just last Sunday, he posted a season-high 377 passing yards in a huge win over the Green Bay Packers.
Smith probably read Darnold's stat lines in the wrong order. Darnold hadn't reached 300 passing yards in any of Minnesota's first 10 games before doing so on Nov. 24.
He's now fourth in passing behind Joe Burrow, Jared Goff, and Baker Mayfield. The No. 3 pick from 2018 also ranks fourth in yards per attempt (8.2) and fifth in quarterback rating (106.4).
Jettisoned by the New York Jets after three sloppy seasons, Darnold got benched by the Carolina Panthers before backing up Brock Purdy on the San Francisco 49ers last year. He signed a one-year, $10 million deal with Minnesota as a supposed bridge option to No. 10 pick J.J. McCarthy.
Darnold has revived his career in Kevin O'Connell's offense. While he may not be Marino, he should receive a substantial raise this offseason.
Related: Stephen A. Smith Shocked By The Rose Bowl On Wednesday
