EAGAN, Minn. — Sam Darnold had himself another laugh at the phrase "sneaky athletic" when asked to evaluate where he'd rank his spinout and delivery last week to Trent Sherfield, Sr., among his bank of plays.
" 'Sneaky athletic,' yeah, keep using it. It was a solid play," Darnold said Wednesday. "I felt like it was just being able to feel the pocket, and instincts took over from there. But it was a great job by our o-line protecting as long as they did for me to be able to make a play like that, and for Trent to be able to stay alive on the play and find the soft spot in the zone."
He moved throughout the pocket and placed footballs where he and receivers found good spots as plays extended in Tennessee.
Darnold bounced back from a good day of moving the football but a bad one at finishing drives in Jacksonville to lead Minnesota's offense on some impressive possessions. He finished with his eighth passer rating above 100 in 10 games and carries a season-long passer rating of 100.0 into Sunday's contest at Chicago (4-6).
The Vikings (8-2) have scored 20 or more points in nine of 10 games this season, which trails only Baltimore and Buffalo (10 games each).
The Bears have limited opponents to fewer than 20 points in seven games but have a 4-3 record to show for it. Chicago's seven passing touchdowns allowed (tied for fewest in NFL) and 197.4 passing yards allowed per game (ninth best in NFL) could present challenges for Minnesota's aerial attack.
Darnold said the key to bouncing back from a bad play is "being able to get over it as fast as possible."
"Whether it's a deep breath, whether it's smacking your hands, doing something to be able to reset … that's a tool that I use and something I'll continue to use," he added.
Here are all the ways to catch the action.
BROADCAST TV
FOX (KMSP FOX 9 in the Twin Cities)
Kickoff: Noon (CT)
Play-by-Play: Kevin Kugler
Analyst: Daryl Johnston
Sideline reporter: Laura Okmin
Fans who live in the blue areas shown on the map from 506sports.com will be able to watch the game on broadcast TV.
LOCAL/REGIONAL RADIO
KFAN (100.3-FM), KTLK 1130-AM and the five-state Vikings Radio Network
Play-by-Play: Paul Allen
Analyst: Pete Bercich
Sideline reporter: Ben Leber
Note: The pregame radio show on the Vikings Radio Network will begin at 10 a.m. (CT).
Audio Streaming Option: Catch the audio broadcast on your smart devices through the KFAN channel on the iHeart app.
SPANISH RADIO
Catch the Vikings on Tico Sports at WREY "El Rey" 94.9 FM and 630 AM in the Twin Cities and on Tico-Sports.com, elrey949fm.com and Vikings.com.
Play-by-Play: Gabriel Rios
Analyst: Isaias Zendejas
SATELLITE RADIO
Minnesota: SiriusXM 161 or 381/Vikings Team Page
Chicago: SiriusXM 81 or 226/Bears Team Page
ADDITIONAL OPTIONS
Click here for the full bevy of options that include over-the-air, cable, satellite, over-the-top and streaming methods.
NFL+ AND NFL+ PREMIUM
Watch out-of-market Vikings preseason games live or on-demand with NFL+ or NFL+ Premium. It is available in the NFL app and at NFL.com/plus.
NFL+ is available for $6.99/month or $49.99/year and offers the following:
- Live out-of-market preseason games across devices
- Live local and prime-time regular-season and postseason games on your phone or tablet
- Live game audio (home, away & national calls) for every game of the season
- NFL Films on-demand content, ad-free
- Ad-free highlights from every NFL game
- Fantasy+
- NFL Network
NFL+ Premium is available for $14.99/month or $99.99/year and offers all NFL+ features and the following:
- Full-game replays across devices
- Condensed game replays across devices
- Coaches film
- RedZone from NFL Network
