Kevin O’Connell Addresses the Elephant in the Room
The Minnesota Vikings’ elephant in the room through 11 games is the quarterback performance, mainly J.J. McCarthy’s development. So, the leader of the team, Kevin O’Connell, addressed the matter on Monday.
Kevin O’Connell puts the Vikings’ QB problem on the table, offering blunt perspective as Minnesota searches for answers in the season’s final seven games.
The Vikings have a 4-6 record through 11 weeks, needing a 6-1 record in the final seven games to possibly flirt with a playoff spot. McCarthy would have to mature with the snap of two fingers to fulfill the mission.
Kevin O’Connell Speaks on J.J. McCarthy’s Intense Growing Pains
O’Connell was quite telling.
O’Connell on McCarthy after Vikings Loss to Bears
The Vikings’ skipper set the table by saying about McCarthy, “He’s made of the right stuff. He’s gonna keep working at it, we’re gonna go back to work and continue to find every avenue to try to help build the consistency to his mechanics. And then I firmly believe the accuracy will come from that.”
“He’s making it hard on himself. That’s probably the most frustrating part for him.. It’s just the variance. It’s causing his job to be more difficult than it needs to be.”
To McCarthy’s credit, he finally settled in on the Vikings’ final offensive drive, delivering a touchdown pass to Jordan Addison to give Minnesota a late-game lead. A couple of minutes later, the special teams allowed a monster kick return, which Chicago easily converted into a game-winning field goal.
O’Connell added, “When his feet and eyes are right, he throws the ball really well. He’s widely capable of making the throws that present themselves. There were opportunities we hunted throughout the week, and we just didn’t connect. Every snap, his detail and his job are of the utmost importance.”
“We’re going to keep attacking it. The accuracy will come when the consistency comes.”
A Team That Was Supposed to Contend
This current Vikings team was probably always destined to encounter some semblance of young quarterback turmoil. But nobody knew it would involve basic quarterback functionality.
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah constructed a roster from free agency and the draft to win now, and through 11 weeks, he has a 4-6 record to show for it.
The team will likely exercise patience, hoping McCarthy has a lightbulb moment. Yet, the window on 2025 is closed or really damn close to it. Minnesota can only lose one game of the next seven — and will that really happen with McCarthy’s current rate of production? Unlikely.
McCarthy Absolutely Has to Trend Positively the Rest of the Way
McCarthy has one mission in the next seven weeks: Show some improvement. It’s that simple.
His near-50% completion rate must climb to 60% or better. He doesn’t have shapeshift into Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen this weekend — he won’t do that anyway — but he must play competently. Like a normal young quarterback following a line of historically acceptable development.
If every Sunday is similar to Week 11 at the Bears, Minnesota will have no choice but to sign a free-agent quarterback like Will Levis or Anthony Richardson (if he were released) this offseason or draft another rookie. The franchise would not have the luxury of embarking on 2026 with an utterly dreadful McCarthy as its proposed solution.
No Easy Foe This Weekend
What’s more, the forecast for McCarthy’s next game isn’t fun.
It’ll be his first game at Lambeau Field — a daunting task. Then, the Packers’ defense ranks 10th in the NFL per DVOA. It’s a Top 10 group. The Bears’ defense ranks 27th per the same metric. Sixth-worst.
Therefore, in addition to determining how to complete a standard pass, McCarthy will face the primary divisional rival at its house, with Micah Parsons lurking and leading the NFL’s 10th-best defense.
That’s also called trial by fire.
More from O’Connell
O’Connell also said about McCarthy: “He was frustrated. I just kept telling him, ‘feet and eyes, feet and eyes,’ and the things that we saw throughout the week on the practice field. Make it about that. With a young quarterback, there’s going to be a lot of things that we’ll pinpoint and continue to highlight and tie that preparation throughout the week and our plans to what he does well, and continue to coach the things where we feel the emphasis needs to be on.”
“It’s part of the young QB journey, just results like today. Especially when you’re able to fight through it all, get the lead, you would love to be making a lot of those growth coaching points and development coaching points with a one-point win, but credit the Bears in the end.”
Minnesota is an early 6.5-point underdog for Week 12 at Lambeau Field.
“It’s the consistency factor of navigating through four quarters of the game. When you maybe miss one, feel some push here somewhere in an NFL pocket, that’s what it is every single Sunday for every single player that plays the position in this league,” O’Connell added.
McCarthy’s Vikings have won both NFC North road games this season.
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