The Minnesota Vikings are off to a hot start this season heading into Week 4 with a 3-0 record for the first time since 2016. This time under the leadership of Sam Darnold, starting his career with the Jets he has shown flashes of greatness but has been historically underwhelming. In his first three seasons he only averaged a 59.7 completion percentage for 8,097 yards, 45 touchdowns and 39 interceptions.

After his tenure with the Jets, Darnold spent two very unimpressive seasons with the Panthers before a short swap to the 49ers. Now he finds himself in Minnesota, where he has shown so far that he still belongs in the league. Now sitting at 3-0, Darnold has a 69.7% completion percentage, 657 yards, eight touchdowns and only two interceptions.

In my opinion, it’s way too early to say whether or not Darnold is going to be able to lead the Vikings on a playoff run that lasts longer than a first-round exit. Darnold has a tendency to be inconsistent throwing, at least to his own team he seems to find defenders more frequently than any coach would like, but this year feels different.

The question becomes is Darnold or is it the team as a whole?

The answer is both.

Darnold looks comfortable and confident in the pocket. He has been making good decisions with the ball and has shown his ability to hit receivers in stride. He has a solid receiving core with Justin Jefferson at the helm and new but efficient running backs behind him. The Vikings’ defense has not allowed more than 17 points thus far in the season, so that is a definite factor in their performance so far on the season.

I think it may have been more of a failure on the Jets to develop the third overall pick that led to him being bounced from team to team. Now that he has found a system that has him set up to succeed and a fan base that is loving him so far, he is thriving. The first three weeks were not against easy teams with the exclusion of the Giants, but that’s another conversation. Darnold and the Vikings have proven they can beat good teams in the Texans and the 49ers.

Will the wins keep coming or will the honeymoon phase come to an end? As it sits, I am confident that they will find themselves in the playoffs – the only question is where. If this current pace continues I could see them taking the division this year.

The team is dealing with a few injuries that may play a factor this week against the Green Bay Packers (2-1). This matchup will be a test for the Vikings especially with the prospect of Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love potentially returning from injury this week.

The Vikings’ faithful will have to wait and see. The Packers have won six of the last 10 meetings, which doesn’t necessarily bode well for the Vikings, unless they continue shutting down opposing offenses as they have for three weeks and Darnold continues to play smart football and keep his turnovers to a minimum.

The betting odds are a bit back and forth, showing pretty close to a tossup as to who is going to win the Week 4 matchup. However, I am leaning towards the Vikings to win as long as they stay out of their own way. We will see come Sunday when they take the field at Lambeau.