McCarthy Starts but Brosmer Shines in Vikings’ Debut
Vikings Territory Breakdown
Minnesota Vikings fans got their wish last Saturday—to see second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy under center. McCarthy hadn’t seen any game action since injuring his knee in his first preseason action last season, and the fact that he made it through the game without further injury is the best news. He did lead the offense on a scoring drive (a 48-yard field goal by Will Reichard) in the only series he played, but it only left fans wanting more—which likely won’t happen until the regular season opener in Chicago in September.
In the meantime, the other three quarterbacks battled for position to back him up, and there was plenty to see from them. Sam Howell, who scored the Vikings first touchdown of the season on a quarterback sneak, looked good in relief of McCarthy. Then Brett Rypien played a quarter of unmemorable football before giving way to former Golden Gopher QB Max Brosmer, who got the home crowd at U.S. Bank Stadium excited again.
Brosmer completed five of eight passes for 47 yards and a touchdown, compiling a rating of 118.2 against many of the Houston Texans’ reserves (who likely won’t make the team). But, no matter, the partisan crowd enjoyed it, and we, the co-hosts of Vikings Territory Breakdown podcast (Joe Oberle, senior writer at vikingsterritory.com and purplePTSD.com and Mark Craig, NFL and Vikings writer for the Star Tribune and startribune.com), plan talk about it.
We will also touch on the other stand-out performances in the game (Gabe Murphy’s two sacks, Kahlef Hailassie’s two picks, Zavier Scott’s eye-catching turn at RB and two disheartening injuries from the game), so tune in to check it all out. Skol!
