J.J. McCarthy’s Performance in Dallas Has Vikings Fans Dreaming Big
It’s always great to see the Vikings beat the Cowboys. To see it happen in a prime-time Sunday night game before the Dallas fans at “Jerry World” (named for the Cowboys’ ever-visible owner, Jerry Jones) made it even better.
Best of all, for J.J. McCarthy to follow up his career-best game last week against Washington with a solid performance in Dallas to start his first two-game winning streak is something that raises hopes for the team and the fan base about the career prospects of the Vikings’ young QB.
Playing on the road in prime time, McCarthy stayed composed, limited mistakes, and made the situational throws Minnesota needed to leave AT&T Stadium with a validating win.
McCarthy wasn’t perfect. He couldn’t bat down the deflected pass that was intercepted on his first throw of the night. He also sailed some passes over Justin Jefferson’s head as he again struggled to connect with him (two catches for 22 yards on eight targets, although Jefferson did catch a TD pass that was nullified by an illegal formation penalty, and he dropped a TD pass that was on him quickly but should’ve been caught).
Why J.J. McCarthy’s Night in Dallas Felt Like a Step Forward
Four plays in this game demonstrated the talent level and clutch factor that someday should make McCarthy a Pro Bowl QB and a playoff—or dare we say Super Bowl—winner in the coming years.
First, his 20-yard TD pass to Jalen Nailor that tied the game 7-7 was a perfect throw on a rollout to his left, where he had to reset and anticipate Nailor getting a step on the corner.
Second, his one-yard TD run on 4th-and-Goal from the 1 in the second quarter included a perfectly disguised play fake that showcased his mobility and showmanship with the slow-mo Griddy as he strolled into the end zone (despite his coach Kevin O’Connell telling him in practice not to do it).
Third, McCarthy’s perfect seam-route pass for 29 yards to T.J. Hockenson (who made a great stretching catch) jump-started the Vikings’ drive to gain the lead for the first time at 24-23. McCarthy and O’Connell called it his best throw of the night.
As for his most impactful play, I’ll go with the 4th-and-3 play on the same drive as the Hockenson catch when McCarthy completed a gutsy 23-yard back-shoulder strike to Nailor that set the Vikings up at the Dallas 14.
The Vikings were struggling to run the ball for most of the game (77 yards, 2.8-yard average), so it was essential for the passing game to carry the offense, and McCarthy led the way with a career-high 250 passing yards and a 108 passer rating.
He’s now 4-4 as a starter with a good chance to get over .500 next Sunday against the dismal 2-12 Giants, who have the league’s No. 30 defense and rank 23rd against the pass.
The shame of it all is that if the Vikings and McCarthy had played at the level of the last two weeks all season (with him not missing five games due to an ankle sprain), they would have three or four more wins and be in the playoff hunt.
That’s not the case for a 6-8 team that was eliminated when the Bears beat the Browns on Sunday. Now it’s about the continued progress of McCarthy and building some positive momentum towards next season, which has happened in the last two games and should continue at the Meadowlands this Sunday before the final two tougher home games against the Lions and Packers.
Here are my other reactions from the Vikings’ win over Dallas
1. No sacks allowed by an O-line missing Christian Darrisaw all game and Brian O’Neill in the fourth quarter: the pass protection was outstanding as McCarthy wasn’t sacked and was hit only one time. O’Connell praised Justin Skule for his solid job in place of Darrisaw, and Blake Brandel was effective when he replaced O’Neill.
It was tough to run the ball against the Dallas D-line led by Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark, but the O-line did open holes for a few nice runs by Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason. And center Ryan Kelly and right guard Will Fries did a great job on C.J. Ham’s one-yard TD run that gave the Vikings a 24-23 lead late in the third quarter.
2. The bend but don’t break defensive performance: the Vikings D was especially good on third downs, allowing the Cowboys’ top-ranked offense to convert only 2 of 12. That helped keep the game close in the third quarter by holding Dallas to field goals on two drives into the red zone. Dallas did convert 3 of 4 times on fourth down (and the Vikings offense was 3 of 3 on fourth down but only 2 of 9 on third down).
Dak Prescott threw for 294 yards but no TDs. He was often uncomfortable due to the pressure put on him (11 hits and two sacks). The Vikings’ defense blitzed on 46% of the snaps and pressured Prescott on 73% of those blitzes. It was good that DC Brian Flores got after Prescott.
The Vikings’ secondary did a great job containing George Pickens (three catches, 33 yards after he came into the game with 1,179 receiving yards. They also covered tight end Jake Ferguson well, with only two receptions for 16 yards by a player who came in with 75 catches.
There was some leaky coverage at times, especially on CeeDee Lamb, who is an all-pro receiver. He was given too much space as he caught six passes for 111 yards. The run D allowed 138 yards (4.8 yards per carry) with the focus on pass defense. Overall, it was a good night for the D, as they held the Cowboys’ fourth-ranked scoring offense to 3 points below its average in the 34-26 victory.
3. Andrew Van Ginkel and Jonathan Greenard: The Vikings’ Pro Bowl duo of edge rushers were impactful. Van Ginkel had four tackles, a half-sack, and four QB hits, while Greenard had four tackles, one sack, and three QB hits.
They were certainly missed in the several games each of them was out injured this season (Van Ginkel’s neck injury kept him out of five games, and Greenard’s shoulder problem—which was re-injured in the second half—cost him the Chicago and Green Bay losses last month).
Greenard will, unfortunately, miss the final three games as he will undergo shoulder surgery.
4. Eric Wilson made the biggest defensive play of the game with 5:35 remaining when he stopped Malik Davis one yard shy of a first down on a 4th-and-7 catch from Prescott. Van Ginkel and Greenard applied pressure on the play. This set up the Vikings for Will Reichard’s game-sealing 53-yard field goal.
5. Special teams—Reichard and Wright continued their excellent seasons. Reichard’s 53-yard clincher was clutch for one of the league’s best kickers (only two missed kicks this season, and he outkicked Dallas All-Pro Brandon Aubrey, who missed 51 and 59 yarders (he did make his other four field goal attempts). Wright had a 65-yard punt in the first quarter that was downed at the Dallas 3, and after a three-and-out, the Vikings had a short field to drive to their first TD.
Kickoff coverage was shaky as KaVontae Turpin had four kickoff returns for 124 yards, including a 40-yarder. Reichard did have a kickoff out of bounds with 1:48 left in the first half to give the Cowboys the ball at their 40 for an easier drive to a field goal.
6. Red zone a key: the Vikings scored TDs on four of five trips. The Cowboys were forced to kick too many field goals and scored TDs on two of four red zone chances.
7. Few penalties for second straight week: again, only three penalties (for 17 yards) while the Cowboys had seven for 58 yards. A salute to Jefferson for keeping his cool after blocking hard downfield and having Caelen Carson throw a punch that drew an unnecessary roughness penalty on the second quarter drive that led to a Reichard field goal and a 17-14 lead.
8. Have to like the effort: despite being eliminated from the playoffs earlier in the day, the Vikings played hard, which is always great to see. It shows the team is well-coached, the players are highly motivated despite the disappointing record, and they want to finish the season on a positive note.
Around the NFL Observations from Week 15
There were a lot of big games impacting the playoff race on Sunday, including the Vikings basically knocking out the Cowboys, who need three wins and three Philly losses to win the NFC East (and Dallas is out of the wild card race). The Eagles come off a 31-0 shutout of the Raiders and play the 4-10 Commanders twice in the last three weeks (with Jayden Daniels shut down due to his elbow injury that was re-aggravated in the loss to the Vikings). There’s a trip to Buffalo in between the two Washington games.
Denver beat Green Bay 34-26; the loss was accentuated by star defender Micah Parsons tearing his ACL, which is devastating for the Packers’ D. Bo Nix threw four TD passes, and Jordan Love tossed two second-half interceptions. Denver rallied from a nine-point deficit to win and holds the top AFC seed at 12-2.
Green Bay dropped a half-game behind Chicago after the Bears whipped the Browns 31-3. The two teams meet in Chicago this Saturday night.
Rams over Lions 41-34: Matthew Stafford (368 passing yards, two TDs) beat Jared Goff (338 yards, three TDs) in a wild game. Puka Nacua had a huge game (nine catches, 181 yards), but Davante Adams injured his hamstring.
The Lions fell to 8-6 and are in trouble in the playoff race (they host Pittsburgh this Sunday before finishing at Minnesota and Chicago).
The Rams and Seahawks sit at 11-3, headed to their Thursday night showdown in Seattle with first place in the NFC West on the line.
The Seahawks beat Philip Rivers and the Colts 18-16 on Jason Myers’ 56-yard FG. The 44-year-old Rivers almost pulled off the upset.
Chargers eliminate Chiefs 16-13: it’s the first time in 11 years that Kansas City will miss the playoffs. The other bad news out of that game for the Chiefs was Patrick Mahomes’ torn ACL.
Buffalo stays in the AFC East race with an exciting comeback from 21-0 down in New England to beat the Patriots 35-31 as Josh Allen threw three TD passes to outduel Drake Maye (held to 155 passing yards, no TDs, and one pick). 11-3 New England has a one-game lead over 10-4 Buffalo.
Carolina blew their chance to take over first place in the NFC South as they fell 20-17 at New Orleans. The Panthers and Buccaneers are both 7-7 and meet twice in the next three weeks, including this Sunday in Charlotte.
I’ll be back on Friday to preview Sunday’s Vikings-Giants battle of young first-round QBs McCarthy and Jaxon Dart. McCarthy will be seeking his third straight win with another solid performance. Dart has had a good first season (92.7 passer rating but only a 2-7 record in his nine starts). He is sure to see plenty of Flores’ blitzes since the Vikings’ DC loves to go after rookie QBs.
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