It was a career day for Jets quarterback Sam Darnold on Sunday against the Redskins, as the No. 3 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft threw for a personal best four touchdowns in the win.
Darnold was 19-of-30 passing for 293 yards to go along with four touchdowns and an interception. He averaged 9.8 yards per attempt, a big time improvement from his season average of 6.4 yards per attempt.
He finished the game with a quarterback rating of 121.3, which is the second highest of his career and his best rating in a game this season. His career-high quarterback rating of 128.4 came in Week 16 of the 2018 season against the Green Bay Packers, when the then-rookie threw for 341 yards and three touchdowns. Darnold's previous season-high rating of 113.8 came in the team's Week 6 win over the Dallas Cowboys.
Darnold connected with Daniel Brown in the first quarter for a 20 yard touchdown pass, giving the Jets an early 6-0 lead. He then threw two more touchdowns in the second quarter -- a six yard pass to Robby Anderson and a 16 yard pass to Ryan Griffin. It was the first time in his career that he threw three first half touchdowns.
In the fourth quarter, Darnold found Jamison Crowder for a 29-yard touchdown to extend the Jets lead to 27-3. With that fourth passing touchdown of the day, he set a new career-high. Prior to Sunday's win over the Redskins, Darnold had thrown for three touchdowns only twice in his career and they both came in 2018 -- Week 5 against the Denver Broncos and Week 16 against the Green Bay Packers.
JAMISON CROWDER REVENGE GAME
- Jets Videos (@snyjets) November 17, 2019
(via @nyjets) pic.twitter.com/1jyZ1Us1mS
Darnold's career-high day is exactly what Jets fans have been waiting for him to do, as the team has now won two straight games. His performance even drew the attention of ESPN's Mina Kimes and the rest of the "Darnold Hive" on Twitter.
DARNOLD HIVE....LETS GOOOOO pic.twitter.com/9xbAZfbTH7
- Mina Kimes (@minakimes) November 17, 2019