Sam Darnold, Vikings offense sputter after Aaron Jones goes down with a hip injury

LONDON – Sam Darnold came to Europe leading all NFL quarterbacks in touchdown passes and passer rating.

In fact, Darnold was the first Vikings quarterback to record a 100-plus passer rating in each of the first four games to start a season, tying the longest streak among all NFL quarterbacks since 1970.

The streak ended Sunday. Not much went right for Darnold or anybody else on offense.

Vikings coaches and players on that side of the ball had plenty of issues to sort through after their worst showing of the season in a 23-17 win over the New York Jets at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

“Wasn’t happy about how the offense played as a whole,” receiver Justin Jefferson said. “We definitely left yards, points out there. I’m excited for this bye week to get a rest and get back to it, but we definitely need to fix some things.”

The NFL’s fourth-ranked scoring offense struggled to get anything going after running back Aaron Jones left the game in the first half because of a hip injury.

The offense managed only 98 total yards, four first downs and two field goals after halftime.

The only thing that really produced a positive outcome was when Jets defensive backs got called for pass interference penalties after grabbing Vikings receivers.

Jones’ absence created a glaring hole in the offense and underscored his value to the entire operation. O’Connell didn’t provide much of an update on Jones after the game except to acknowledge that he will receive further evaluation.

“I’m keeping my fingers crossed that that hopefully will be short-term,” O’Connell said.

The Vikings rushed for 82 yards on 30 carries for a paltry 2.7 yards per carry. Without a running game to lean on, the plan relied on Darnold’s passing, and he turned in a shaky performance unlike anything he had shown through the past four games.

Darnold completed less than 50% of his passes (14 of 31), amassing only 179 yards with one interception. He also was sacked four times and finished with a 50.3 passer rating.

“There were definitely opportunities there that I missed,” Darnold said.

O’Connell wasn’t deterred by those misses with his play-calling. The head coach continued to call plays that allowed Darnold to throw the ball deep, even as his incompletions mounted.

O’Connell is intentional in showing confidence in Darnold and his entire offense by making aggressive play calls. But that approach hit a lull as penalties and a steady stream of incompletions resulted in quick drives.

One sequence highlighted O’Connell straying too far into attack mode. The Vikings moved the ball to the Jets’ 33-yard line in the second quarter.

On third-and-2, Darnold threw a short incompletion to Jefferson.

On fourth-and-2, O’Connell called a deep pass to Jordan Addison that went incomplete.

“There were some shots and some chances to maybe change that whole narrative of the game if you hit one or two of those,” O’Connell said of his general approach as play-caller. “We just didn’t. We’ve got to keep finding ways to still be able to have drives materialize when you’re not hitting those plays.”

It became a feast-or-famine endeavor, and mostly famine, without a reliable running game and higher percentage throws to help the offense establish a rhythm. The Vikings didn’t have a possession last longer than 3½ minutes in the second half.

Jefferson was targeted 14 times (out of 28 total targets), but he finished with only six catches. That’s a ratio that won’t happen too often.

“I didn’t think, particularly offensively, our execution was up to our standard,” O’Connell said. “It starts with me as the play caller. I’ve got to make sure that I find a way to continue chasing improvement because there were some things offensively that just can’t happen in the big scheme of 17 games over a season.”