The Way J.J. McCarthy Did It Mattered
On Monday Night Football, J.J. McCarthy took the field as a starting quarterback for an NFL team during the regular season for the first time in his career. Out of the gate, things looked pretty rough. That’s probably to be expected when Kevin O’Connell and the Minnesota Vikings opt against much of a preseason dress rehearsal. Then things changed.
J.J. McCarthy led the Minnesota Vikings to a Week 1 victory, and the way in which he did so was the part that made all the difference.
By now, the game has been well-digested, and the Vikings’ 27-24 win over the Chicago Bears has been broken down plenty. They orchestrated a fourth quarter comeback, and McCarthy led the offense to 21 straight points after a pick-six that had them in a 17-6 hole.
Battling Adversity, J.J. McCarthy Aced His Debut
The reality to take away from Monday is that the way in which McCarthy navigated that game was what mattered. We learned more about who McCarthy is, the leader he can be, and the talent he possesses, because of the adversity than we ever would have without it.
Sure, it would have been fun to see McCarthy come out and drop dimers all over the field. Imagine he racked up 500 yards and four passing touchdowns. The talking heads would have gone ballistic and put him on a pedestal next to Tom Brady as the next legendary great.
If that had happened, though, we would have also been able to assume the Bears are just the Bears, and that McCarthy dissected the human embodiment of Swiss cheese. Instead, what we got was something much greater.
Moments happen organically in sports. McCarthy watched his team slog around the field. He was a part of that struggle. He stepped up and said this isn’t over, and watch what we’re about to do. He showed leadership despite being the youngest starting quarterback in the league. He rose above an occasion that should have crushed him. At the first opportunity possible, he proved that this league is not above him.
Because McCarthy gave us data points to understand his resolve and his ability to bring a team back, we can stop wondering what things will look like if the other shoe falls. He’s going to have bad games and take his lumps at times. It’s also more than reasonable now that he is going to be an absolute problem for opponents, and the best quarterback O’Connell has ever had wearing purple.
The game played out as it did, and because of that, we now have more on McCarthy than we ever could have had things gone more smoothly.
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