The New Best Case Scenario for the Minnesota Vikings Is Here
The Minnesota Vikings stand at a season crossroads with a neutral record of 2-2, and the campaign could bend in a couple of different ways. Thankfully, due to some injury serendipity, quarterback J.J. McCarthy will have a chance to heal from his high ankle sprain and “save the day.”
The Minnesota Vikings have a 2-2 record, a young quarterback mending from an ankle sprain, and a fan base that desperately wants more from the club.
That’s one possible outcome for the 2025 team, and it can be considered the hero’s path.
The Minnesota Vikings Need J.J. McCarthy to Soon Turn Heads
McCarthy should be back in the lineup sometime next month.
J.J. McCarthy Has a Chance to Play the Hero
McCarthy will reportedly be eligible to practice this week before his team meets the Cleveland Browns in London, though NFL Network suggested over the weekend that McCarthy might “run the scout team.”
Regardless, the man’s return is near, and all signs point to Week 7 or Week 8, following the Week 6 bye, for his reunion. At that time, the stakes will be different than when he hit the shelf with a high ankle sprain. How? Well, the current Minnesota team has carried out a Jekyll and Hyde role: winning, losing, winning, and losing again so far in 2025.
McCarthy, almost inevitably, will return to a squad that could truly bend either way in 2025. That is — Minnesota could still effectuate a playoff push or succumb to ineptitude, with fans eyeing mock drafts by mid-November.
The 22-year-old signal-caller will be back in the saddle to have a say in the season’s direction.
Returning to a Mediocre or Losing Team
Unless the Vikings resemble a perfect operation against the Browns in England to the tune of a finely-oiled 51-0 blowout — not likely — they will jaunt into the bye week as a mediocre team or one with a losing record.
In that vein, assuming McCarthy returns after the bye, he’ll have the chance to “save” a team on the ropes. Some fans still have the memory of McCarthy playing like a moron versus the Atlanta Falcons fresh in their minds, believing he might play like that all the time. No, McCarthy won’t play that poorly forever.
Pretend he returns and takes the next steps of his maturation, banking competent performances in a row against formidable competition. Minnesota may win games along the way, and McCarthy has the chance to be viewed as a rescuer or the injection.
And this is all while fans had a week to stew over mediocrity or a losing record during the bye.
McCarthy Developing with Meaningful Stakes
What’s more, McCarthy will return smack dab in the middle of the regular season. His team will still believe it’s a playoff contender, almost no matter what, and McCarthy can then cut his teeth in the NFL when games truly matter. To be clear, his first two starts mattered, but it’s one thing to win a game when your record is 0-0, and another to do so when the team is 7-6 in the thick of a Wildcard playoff chase. That’s possible.
The Vikings rarely devolve into irrelevance during a given regular season and have never done so with Kevin O’Connell as the head coach. This is McCarthy’s chance to get the feel of a team in real-life playoff stakes.
Imagine the Glee if McCarthy Turns the Corner in a Season like This
Then there’s the scenario when it clicks for McCarthy and Minnesota wins multiple games.
That is — the futility he displayed in Week 2 becomes a distant memory, and his performance in Week 7 and beyond builds game by game. Versus very stiff competition, McCarthy could steer the ship to wins, and if Minnesota clinched a postseason berth, well, McCarthy would be viewed as “the guy.”
It’s all within McCarthy’s grasp. The only caveat is that he can’t play like trash every week.
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