Minnesota and quarterback Sam Darnold are one of the early-season surprises of the league. The team’s 4-0 start is their best start to the season since 2016 when they began the year 5-0.
The Vikings will try to match that 5-0 start when they travel to London to meet the New York Jets, the team that drafted Darnold with the third overall pick of the 2018 NFL draft. Minnesota opened as a 2 1/2-point favorite over quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Jets (2-2).
Kansas City, looking to become the first team in history to win three consecutive Super Bowls, is also off to a 4-0 start. But it’s been anything but easy for head coach Andy Reid’s team.
The team had to survive a replay that showed Baltimore’s Isaiah Likely’s toe was just out of bounds on the final play of the game in the team’s opening win. The Chiefs then beat Cincinnati when the Bengals got called for pass interference on a 4th-and-16 play in the final minutes. The following week the Chiefs beat Atlanta when the Falcons didn’t get what appeared to be a pass interference call on their final drive of the game. Finally last Sunday, the Chiefs had to overcome a 10-0 deficit to beat their AFC West rival the Los Angeles Chargers, 17-10.
This week the Chiefs will host the New Orleans Saints (2-2) on Monday Night Football. The early line has Kansas City as a 5 1/2-point favorite.
Darnold, who failed miserably in New York and was traded to Carolina where he also failed, has seen his career resurrected in Minnesota after a year in San Francisco as a backup to Brock Purdy.
The Vikings signed the former No. 1 pick to a one-year deal as a bridge for rookie J.J. McCarthy, who Minnesota selected in the first round of this past NFL draft. When McCarthy went down with a season-ending knee injury during the preseason the job became Darnold’s.
All Darnold has done through the first month of the season is lead the league in touchdown passes with 11, complete 68.9 percent of his passes and average 8.8 yards per pass attempt. All of that adds up to a quarterback rating of 118.9, also the best in the league.
The Vikings wins have come against some tough competition as well. After a blowout of the lowly New York Giants at the Meadowlands in week one, Minnesota beat defending NFC champion San Francisco, and playoff teams Houston and Green Bay.
Kansas City is 4-0 despite some not so spectacular play from its quarterback, Patrick Mahomes. The MVP of the past two Super Bowls has found ways to win, despite posting pedestrian numbers by his standards through the early part of the season.
Mahomes is averaging just 226 passing yards per game and has six touchdown passes compared with five interceptions. His quarterback rating of 89.7 is almost 14 points lower than his career rating of 103.0.
The other prime time games this week are also of interest.
Thursday night the Atlanta Falcons (2-2) host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-1) in what could go a long way in determining the winner of the NFC South. Atlanta is an early 2 1/2-point favorite.
Sunday night the Pittsburgh Steelers (3-1) will look to bounce back from its first loss of the season (to the Indianapolis Colts) when they host the Dallas Cowboys (2-2). The defending NFC East champion Cowboys have not been impressive through the first four games. Pittsburgh is an early 2-point favorite.
