The Houston Texans defense will see an unlikely opponent in Sam Darnold when they face the Minnesota Vikings. Darnold is stepping in as the starter after No. 10 overall pick J.J. McCarthy suffered a season-ending knee injury back in training camp.

The Minnesota Vikings have not had to rebuild this roster completely; rather, they have established leaders like Harrison Phillips, who, in turn, lift the whole roster. They really have embraced

So it would have been reasonable for outside observers to cringe at Sam Darnold's wild flip of the ball toward running back Aaron Jones Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, not only because it threatened to turn a busted play into a massive turnover,

The Minnesota Vikings are one of the most surprising teams in the NFL through two weeks. Vikings fans everywhere were crushed when rookie QB J.J. McCarthy was ruled out for the year with a meniscus injury. That thrust backup Sam Darnold into the limelight where he as surprisingly been excellent.

When the schedule is loaded with tough games at the start of the schedule, it sends a message to the team that it must be ready to compete hard as the season gets

If you're deducing things as you read along, you've already come to the realization that Jayden Daniels, Will Levis, Deshaun Watson, Daniel Jones, Russell Wilson, Caleb Williams and Jacoby Brissett are all ranked ahead of Darnold. By the numbers, it makes absolutely no sense.