Kevin O'Connell: Sam Darnold has just been so demanding of himself

Toward the end of Minnesota's victory over Atlanta on Sunday, there was a moment of joy shared between the Vikings' sideline and the team's fans at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Quarterback Sam Darnold was shown on the jumbotron, eliciting cheers from the crowd. Darnold then proceeded to hype up the crowd even more by waiving a towel, producing more applause.

It was a fitting cap to a career day for Darnold, who completed 22-of-28 passes for 347 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions. He finished just below a perfect passer rating of 158.3 at 157.9.

In his Monday news conference, head coach Kevin O’Connell said “it’s been awesome” to watch Minnesota’s fan base embrace Darnold this season.

“I envisioned a moment like that, maybe not to that extent, but you envision that when your goal is set, you set out to achieve a goal together, working side by side with players,” O’Connell said. “And when you start to see them truly realize that, it's just it's a cool moment — that's why we do this.

“That's why I love this profession, and I love winning more than anything but I consider those little wins the reason why we do this job and Sam's a great example of it. I love getting a chance to watch him every single day on this journey that he's on here in Minnesota and just relishing in the op, and that's what he's done. He's been great.”

Through 13 games, Darnold has now led the Vikings to an 11-2 record, completing 68.4 percent of his passes for 3,299 yards with 28 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He’s also rushed for 194 yards with a touchdown.

O’Connell noted that Darnold has been playing “ so well” and has also done a nice job of being “rooted in the moment.”

“I mean, he has just been so demanding of himself, but yet I also love the way he hasn't put the weight of the world on his shoulders,” O’Connell said. “I think I just can't say enough about how Sam's handled himself, thinking back to the different kind of moments throughout his journey this year and how he's maximized every single up coming out of what's been a very successful season, chasing improvement. I think we saw it on full display [on Sunday].”