Bill Belichick called out the Jets while offering analysis of Sam Darnold’s surprising success

Belichick didn't miss an opportunity to call out his former AFC East rival.

Bill Belichick’s take on Sam Darnold: Among the many surprises taking shape in the early weeks of the 2024 NFL season is the success story of Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings.

Darnold, 27, is now playing for his fourth team since originally being drafted by the Jets third overall in 2018. After failing to develop in New York, and passing through stops (primarily as a backup) in Carolina and San Francisco, Darnold may have only gotten to start in Week 1 due to the season-ending injury from the team’s top pick this year, J.J. McCarthy.

Given another chance to play, Darnold has grabbed the opportunity with both hands. So far, the former USC quarterback has led the Vikings to a 3-0 start, including a 34-7 win over the Texans on Sunday. He currently leads the league with eight touchdown passes.

During a Monday segment on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Bill Belichick was asked about his thoughts on the Vikings (and Darnold).

“It’ll be interesting to see how they can sustain this,” Belichick explained. “I’ve always said that it’s a lot easier to get to the top than it is to stay on top.”

Then, he went a little further, offering his take on Darnold’s pro career.

“I’ll say this: Everybody has liked Darnold except the Jets,” Belichick noted, eliciting laughter from McAfee and his co-hosts. “The people in Carolina that I talked to, they really liked him.”

While Belichick incorrectly listed Darnold as having spent time with the Rams (possibly a reference to the young quarterback’s season with the 49ers), he circled back to his original point.

“I know Kevin [O’Connell] and some of the coaches in Minnesota they really like this guy too, so it seemed like the only people that didn’t like Darnold were the Jets.”

Of course, Belichick once played an important part in Darnold’s demise as Jets quarterback. The Patriots defense drew an infamous mic’d up comment from Darnold during a 2019 game, when he acknowledged that he was “seeing ghosts.”

Now, however, Belichick thinks that the Darnold-led Vikings are a top team.

“I don’t think anybody’s looking past Minnesota — not that they were before — but I don’t think anybody’s looking past them now. There are probably opponents coming up in the future that are saying, ‘Hey this is how we measure our program, how do we do against probably one of the top two, three teams in the league.”

Trivia: Bill Belichick is often credited with having held the shortest head coaching tenure in NFL history after he was named Bill Parcells’ replacement with the Jets in Jan. 2000 only to resign the next day (eventually winding up in New England). Another notable figure also lasted only a short time with the Jets, resigning after less than a whole season in New York in 1976. Can you name that coach?

(Answer at the bottom).

Hint: He went on to much greater success at the college level, and is the most recent coach to win a football National Championship with Notre Dame.

Scores and schedules:

The Red Sox defeated the Blue Jays 4-1 on Monday, with Tanner Houck collecting the win after yielding just one run in five innings. Houck, 28, crossed the 30-start threshold for the first time in his career, lowering his season ERA to 3.21.

Tonight, the Bruins host the Capitals at 7 p.m. in the second preseason game of the year prior to the regular season opener on Oct. 8.

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On this day: In 1972, the Red Sox defeated the Tigers 7-2 behind a complete game from Luis Tiant.

The Patriots rallied with 14 fourth quarter points to defeat the Falcons, 21-20. The win was only secured after a 17-yard field goal miss by Atlanta kicker Bill Bell in the closing seconds. Falcons head coach Norm Van Brocklin was unsparing in his postgame commentary.

“We got the ball right to where we wanted it and the kid simply missed the kick.”

Daily highlight: Damar Hamlin made his first career NFL interception on Monday night, drawing a huge roar from the Buffalo crowd in the Bills’ lopsided win over the Jaguars.

Trivia answer: Lou Holtz