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

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,

NFL commentator Colin Cowherd said that Sam Darnold gives the Vikings more upside than Kirk Cousins, but at a cost.