CHICAGO – For all the good Sam Darnold has done for the Minnesota Vikings this season, one achievement in particular has eluded him: leading a game-winning drive. So all eyes were on Darnold as he jogged to his 21-yard line for the second possession of overtime Sunday at Soldier Field.

Every cynic feared the worst: a turnover that would give the Chicago Bears a very unlikely victory.

Every optimist hoped this would be Darnold’s signature moment as the Vikings’ QB so far.

Every realist thought that every outcome was approximately equally likely.

The first play was a point for the cynic. Darnold misread the defensive alignment and turned the play from a run to a pass, leading to a sack. Coach Kevin O’Connell later said he was “disappointed” with the decision, but quickly saw it as an opportunity: “I kind of wanted to see how he would react.”

Darnold left little doubt from that point until the Vikings pulled off a 30-27 win. He threw a 7-yard pass to TJ Hockenson on second-and-17, the first of six consecutive completions for a total of 90 yards that put the Vikings in position for Parker Romo’s 29-yard field goal.

When it was over, Darnold had thrown for a season-high 330 yards and two touchdowns, prompting O’Connell to talk about his quarterback when speaking to reporters.

“Show me someone across the board who had a better game at the quarterback position,” O’Connell said.

O’Connell acknowledged that Bears rookie Caleb Williams could likely challenge for that title after leading his team to 11 points in the final 22 seconds, sending the game to overtime. But for Darnold, Sunday proved to be an important extension of his response to a two-game stretch earlier this month in which he committed six turnovers.

Over the past two games, Darnold completed 42 of 66 passes for 576 yards while accounting for five touchdowns. His only turnover during that stretch was a missed connection on a toss play against running back Aaron Jones.

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Sam Darnold’s Week 12 fantasy recap

Check out some of the stats and numbers behind Sam Darnold’s fantasy performance in the Vikings’ Week 12 win over the Bears.

In any case, he has adopted a lifelong mantra of not overdoing his reading assignments and assignments.

“I really think it’s that simple,” Darnold said. “I just try not to do too much. If I feel like I need to reach out of my pocket, and if it’s not there, just throw it away. Or, if I need to reach for a pocket sometimes, I’m willing to to do that. Keep playing within the system and within the game, and we’ll continue to play solid on offense.”

Darnold was, of course, a bit modest. There are tangible examples of his progress within the Vikings offense, including one that O’Connell highlighted after Sunday’s game.

If you saw something familiar in the 45-yard pass Darnold threw to Jordan Addison on the final play of the first quarter, you weren’t alone. The game concept was similar to the one the Vikings played against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 9. In that case, however, Darnold didn’t look at Addison and instead forced the ball over the middle to receiver Justin Jefferson. The resulting interception was one of five this season on passes intended for Jefferson.

“It looked pretty much the same, and we had a dialogue about that,” O’Connell said. “If they want to play tight on the boundary there, (I told) Sam to be ready. That was one of the nicer throws I’ve seen.”

But there was nothing more remarkable Sunday than watching Darnold lead the Vikings’ final drive, especially after three plays that made progress more difficult: the sack, a false start on tight end Johnny Mundt and an offensive holding penalty on left guard Blake Brandel. As a result, Darnold had to overcome second-and-17, first-and-15 and first-and-20 to keep the drive alive. He moved past those obstacles with passes of 13 yards to Addison, 20 to Jefferson and 29 to Hockenson to get the ball to the Bears’ 9-yard line.

The NFL world has been waiting for Darnold to return to his old ways after losing two franchises and spending a season as a backup before signing with the Vikings last spring. He has been far from perfect, and his No. 15 ranking in QBR accurately reflects his skill compared to other NFL quarterbacks.

But he has worked to curb his turnovers without losing any of the big plays that boosted the Vikings early in the season, and he has already surpassed his career highs in touchdown passes (20) and total touchdowns (22 ). There are clear examples of him learning from mistakes, and it’s all happening at the exact time of year the Vikings need it.

On Sunday, O’Connell got nostalgic when asked about Darnold returning to the game just twice after appearing to suffer an ankle injury. He said he asked Darnold over the headset to give him a thumbs up if he felt like a six or better on a scale of 1-10.

Darnold gave him a thumbs up.

Was he an 8?

Darnold gave another thumbs up, along with a signal to stop asking.

It was reminiscent of O’Connell’s memory of watching Darnold play in the 2017 Cotton Bowl for USC, where he took a beating from Ohio State’s defense.

“I then learned everything I needed to know about his toughness and his makeup,” O’Connell said. “To be willing to take some real pressure every time he drops back, I think he’s a mentally strong guy. I think he’s a physically strong guy. I think he has confidence in the guys around him, and I think he has confidence in our system.

“And I think if he continues to play quarterback at a high level, we’ll be a strong team. I really do. And playing quarterback at a high level can simply be a matter of feet, eyes, rhythm and… putting the ball in.” .” He did that very well two weeks in a row.”