Sam Darnold has found the perfect partner with the Vikings after his doomed Jets stay

There are many forces standing in the way of the Jets winning when they play the Vikings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Sunday.

The first of these forces is the Jets themselves, considering how clumsy they were in their own way (did anyone mention the word cadence?) in last Sunday's terrible 10-9 home loss to the Broncos.

A close second on this list is Vikings reclamation quarterback Sam Darnold – a familiar face who was drafted third overall by the Jets in 2018.

By all accounts (except perhaps just Darnold himself), the Jets failed Darnold in his three seasons with them.

They never built enough talent around him. They changed offensive coordinators. They changed the head coach. All of this gave Darnold little chance of success on the field because his three years with them were so chaotic.

Mark Sanchez, a close confidante of Darnold and someone who has walked in his shoes (and vice versa), knows the chaos because he experienced it in his five years as a Jet. Sanchez, now an NFL analyst for Fox, was drafted fifth overall by the team in 2009, nine years ahead of Darnold.

Sanchez and Darnold grew up near each other south of LA and live just a few doors apart in the same neighborhood — so close that Sanchez joked with Darnold this week that he would cover a large tree on his property with toilet paper for Halloween.

The connection between the two is uncanny. Both went to USC. Both were drafted in the first round by the Jets. When Sanchez welcomed his son Daniel into the world, he attended a parenting class taught by Darnold's grandfather.

Kevin O'Connell, Darnold's head coach at Minnesota, was best man at Sanchez's wedding to actress Perry Mattfeld. O'Connell was the backup quarterback for Sanchez with the Jets in 2011.

Sanchez called the couple Darnold and O'Connell a “great marriage.”

“He's such a humble boy and such a gentle boy that someone had to bring out that dog in him too because he's there,” Sanchez told The Post this week. “He is a competitor and wants to win, but you have to stoke the fire a little. “I think O'Connell got it right because they are similar in personality.”

It's thanks to his determination that Darnold survived and is now a leading candidate for league MVP honors based on his play for Minnesota. He leads the NFL with 11 touchdown passes and a passer rating of 118.9.

Darnold was traded to Carolina in 2021 when Robert Saleh was hired, and the Jets chose quarterback Zach Wilson second overall in the draft.

Darnold spent last season as a backup with the 49ers before signing with the Vikings last offseason – presumably to back up first-round draft pick JJ McCarthy, who suffered a knee injury in training camp and was out for the season.

Everyone needs a little luck.

Darnold's wealth also came from the quarterback training he received last season from 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and now from O'Connell. These two coaches represented everything Darnold didn't have with the Jets or Panthers.

“He went from a tumultuous environment with the Jets to the Panthers in Carolina, where it was a circus there, and then he gets to spend a whole year with Kyle Shanahan, watching a really good player in Brock Purdy and ultimately learning something “A system with principles that would help him and a foundation that would help him wherever he went next,” Sanchez said. “He stopped playing pickup basketball in the park and now plays an organized system with a coach who has been doing it for a long time and good players around him.”

For the first time, Darnold has players around him who are built to win. He has Justin Jefferson, one of the best receivers in the game, along with a strong offensive line, running game and strong defense.

“He's been shooting a pellet gun for a while, and now he has everything – all the bells and whistles, the viewfinder, the night vision goggles, the spotter,” Sanchez said. “This is the first time he has had a full arsenal. “He doesn’t shoot cans in the backyard anymore.”

Sanchez recalled a production meeting with Darnold in November 2022 at a Cincinnati hotel before he was scheduled to broadcast the film Darnold's Panthers being defeated by the Bengals. Darnold, frustrated with his current circumstances as a pro, conveyed his wishes to Sanchez.

“I just want to be in a situation where I have a chance, where I'm valued, where I'm motivated and coached hard, where the team knows I'm the right guy,” Darnold told Sanchez.

Sanchez's message to his friend: “Dude, you just gotta hang in there because in a good situation you'll have a chance.”

Rightly so, Darnold finally got the chance in this “good situation” and he’s doing well.

Sanchez said he believes the tough times with the Jets “helped him because he's toughened, callous and experienced.”

“He needed to get somewhere where someone would remind him, 'Hey dude, there's a lot of runway left, big guy.' You have lots of skills. “They were drafted in the first round for a reason,” Sanchez said. “It's like a relationship. You go from relationship to relationship, and it's shitty and it's shitty and shitty, and then finally someone who's put together just picks you up and reminds you, “You're beautiful.” I love you. Let's find out together.' ”

Finally, it seems like Darnold has figured it out. And that may not be good news for his former team in England on Sunday.