Sam Darnold didn’t see any 🌃ghosts ♛as he returned to MetLife Stadium.
Instead, this time ar𓄧ound, all he saw was open receivers and green turf in front of them to r♈un freely.
The ex-Jets bust, in hi💎s first game as Vikings starting ꦑquarterback, carved up the Giants defense with ease Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium as the .
He completed 19 of 24 passes (79.2 percent) for 208 y💙ards, two touchdowns and an interception, good for a stellar 113.2 passer rating.
Early on, it seemed like he might not ever throw an incompletion𒀰.
Darnold complete💟d his first 12 passes and entered halftime 13 of 14 for 151 yards, a touchdow✃n and a 135.4 passer rating.
“For me, it was just coming out hereౠ and playing my game,” Darnold said. “Playing one play at a time. Just playing with confidence. I think that’s the biggest thing — we have a great offense, we have a great system, if I just play on time and do all the things I need to execute, we’ll be alright.”
It really couldn’t have been any easier for Darnold, who ha🍌d all day to throw nearly every time he dꦰropped back.
The Giants — whose pass-rush is supposed to be a strength with Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux — only recorded one sack, by Dexter Lawrence, and it came on the Vikings’ 🐓🦹second offensive snap of the game.
The Giants also only r🌞ecorded two quarterback hits.
That meant trouble for the Giants secondary, which entered the season as one of the team’s biggest q♍uestion marks and was outclassed by Justin Jefferson and the rest of Minnesota’s pass-catchers.
In the third quarter, Darnold threw a pe🅠rfectly placed dime down the left sideline to Jefferson for 44 yards before finding him again for a 1-yard touchdown pass on fourth down a few plays later, capping a 99-yard, 11-play touchdown drive.
“I think [Darnold] was a guy we thought he was going to be on film,” Thibodeaux sai🐭d. “He made some smart passes, he played a great game so it is what it is.”
🤪For Darnold’s one blemish — his interception — his arm was hit by Lawrence as he threw and the ball floa🦩ted in the air to Darius Muasau.
Darnold has returned to MetLife Stadium — last (to actually play) with the Panthers in 2021 for a 25-3 loss to the Giants — since leaving the Jets, but Sunday 𝔍perhaps finally provided him some revenge or closure.
It’s arguably the best game he’s ever played in the bu🍰ilding.
“Obviously it’s great to be back,” Darnold said. “It’s been a while since I’ve played here. … It’s always good to get back in MetLife.”