The interior O-line: right guard Ed Ingram, center Garrett Bradbury and left guard Blake Brandel were targeted from the first passing play.
In the video below, the Giants scheme one-on-one pass rushes across the interior. Burns (#0) and Lawrence (#97) tee off on Brandel and Ingram. Lawrence benches Ingram backward and into the only sack of the afternoon on Darnold, who felt plenty of heat in New York, but navigated it well after this initial dropback.
Protection will play a critical role in Darnold’s season, continuing with Sunday’s home opener vs. the 49ers.
When kept clean, Darnold was incredibly efficient by completing 14 of 15 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown, according to Pro Football Focus.
When pressured, his numbers dipped to 5 of 9 for 54 yards, a score, an interception and one sack. Less efficient, but just two negative plays. The Vikings will take him navigating a plus-40% pressured rate like that. Historically, Darnold hasn’t played well under duress. He has committed 57 interceptions, including one on Sunday when Lawrence hit his arm, and lost 14 fumbles in 57 NFL starts.
Yet his Vikings debut went smoothly.