Former Vikings GM: Patience Is Required with J.J. McCarthy
Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. That’s likely Vikings Coach Kevin O’Connell’s message to himself as he pulls his hair out after another inconsistent performance by QB J.J. McCarthy in the frustrating 19-17 loss to the Bears that damaged the Vikings’ playoff hopes.
Patience is required with J.J. McCarthy as the rookie quarterback continues developing through early ups and downs while the Vikings shape his long-term trajectory.
McCarthy had an awful first 3 ½ quarters with only 74 passing yards on 10 completions in 26 attempts. He threw two interceptions on back-to-back late second-quarter drives. They were both poorly thrown balls with a bad decision on the first when he should’ve checked down to C.J. Ham and an underthrown ball on the second as Jordan Addison had a step on Nahshon Wright.
But McCarthy wasn’t helped by six dropped passes from his usually reliable skill players.
Then, as he has in other games, McCarthy flipped a switch with 3:14 left and had a terrific final drive, completing 6 of 8 passes for 76 yards with a 4th-and-4 conversion to Jordan Addison (as a blitzer closed in on him) and a 15-yard TD to Addison. That gave Minnesota a 17-16 lead with 56 seconds left, which was somewhat surprising considering how the game had gone.
It’s the Almighty Patience Test with J.J. McCarthy
McCarthy’s excellence and poise on the final drive showed his talent and his ability to perform in clutch moments, as the great QBs regularly do. That’s why O’Connell and the Vikings brass must have patience with McCarthy, which is not easy for a coach or an organization.
They have to hope he improves his accuracy, gets a little less amped up early in games, and develops more touch as a passer while better understanding how teams are defending the Vikings offense. O’Connell knows all about the “quarterback journey” he always mentions, and how Hall of Famers and multiple Super Bowl champion QBs like Peyton Manning and Troy Aikman had bad first years as starters in Indy and Dallas, respectively. Manning led the NFL with 28 interceptions in a 3-13 season in 1998, and Aikman had 18 picks and went 0-11 as a first-year starter in 1989.
Young QBs rarely start out as Jayden Daniels did last year, when he led the Commanders to the NFC title game in a Pro Bowl rookie season. Caleb Williams had a rough first year in 2024 with a losing Bears team, and he’s better in Year 2, but still needs to progress much further before he’s considered elite.
Of course, it would’ve been a better outcome for McCarthy and the Vikings if the kickoff coverage unit had stayed in their lanes on Devin Duvernay’s 56-yard return in the final minute. And if the defense had held at the Vikings’ 40 on the final drive (they allowed a seven-yard run by D’Andre Swift on third down with too many Vikings defenders playing deep in an obvious running situation).
That would’ve forced a longer field goal than the 48-yarder made by Cairo Santos (who had missed his previous attempt), and if the Vikings had emerged victorious, there would have been more attention on McCarthy’s great last drive.
It’s hard to believe the Vikings won in Detroit and followed it up with home losses to Baltimore and Chicago in games that were certainly winnable. The Bears allowed 42 points to the Bengals two weeks ago, with Joe Flacco throwing for 470 yards and 4 TDs, yet the Vikings could only score 17 points, with McCarthy passing for only 150 yards.
Now the Vikings are up against it with a 4-6 record, three games back of the 7-3 Bears, who lead the NFC North over 6-3-1 Green Bay and 6-4 Detroit.
The Vikings probably have to win six of the last seven games to make the playoffs, starting with road tests at Green Bay and Seattle the next two Sundays. But this Vikings team has been better on the road this season, with a 3-2 record, compared to a dismal 1-4 at home.
I don’t see the Bears winning the NFC North, and they may have trouble making the playoffs, as they still have to face the Packers twice and the Lions once, along with playing at Philly and San Francisco. Chicago has not yet beaten a team with a winning record. They are not a great team. Like the Vikings, the Bears’ receivers had several drops, and, like McCarthy, Williams missed open receivers on several occasions.
Here are my other reactions from the Vikings’ loss to the Bears
1. For the second straight week, the Vikings defense probably played well enough to win: they held the Bears to 19 points and Williams to 193 passing yards but allowed 140 yards on the ground (90 by Swift, who they held to 53 yards in Chicago in the opener).
But the defense had no takeaways, a season-long problem with only nine (five in the Cincinnati game and four in the other nine games). The Vikings’ turnover ratio has gone from plus-12 last season (third-best) to minus-9 (second-worst). The 18 giveaways are the second-most. The Bears lead the NFL with a plus-16 turnover ratio, which is a big part of why they’re 7-3.
2. The two interceptions thrown by McCarthy likely cost the Vikings between six and 10 points. The first pick led to a field goal and a 10-3 Chicago lead. The second pick came on a 1st-and-10 play from the Chicago 30, with the Vikings already in field-goal range, and perhaps they could’ve driven to a TD right before halftime on a drive that had already moved 36 yards.
3. Jonathan Greenard was missed with his shoulder injury but Dallas Turner stepped up with his best game as a pro: it would definitely be helpful to have both of them in the lineup at Green Bay and Turner still needs to continue to improve in setting the edge on run D but the 22-year old No. 1 pick from last year was impactful on Sunday with seven tackles, one sack, two tackles-for-loss and three QB hits.
Andrew Van Ginkel also had a strong game—eight tackles, one sack, and two tackles-for-loss, and Blake Cashman had 15 tackles.
4. The dropsies have to stop on offense. McCarthy is having a hard enough time without key players such as Addison dropping two balls and Jefferson dropping one for the second straight week. As one of the highest-paid tight ends in the league, Hockenson can’t be dropping balls as he did in the Bears game, but he did have a nice catch-and-run for 21 yards to jump-start the final TD drive. The Vikings offense needs more of that connection between McCarthy and Hockenson, along with better connections with Jefferson and Addison.
5. The main culprits on the killer Duvernay return were Ivan Pace and rookies Tai Felton and Austin Keys, who didn’t stay in their lanes. The worst part is that Special Teams Coach Matt Daniels had told the unit during the week that Duvernay often cuts back across the field. With three timeouts and 50 seconds left, Williams may have still led the Bears into field goal range as he has done several times late in games this season. But the lax kickoff coverage made it too easy.
6. The Vikings’ lack of discipline on the final kickoff did them in, but they were much better penalty-wise, with only two for 15 yards. There was only one false start after eight last week, so the cadence issues were resolved at least on Sunday. The one false start—by Christian Darrisaw—was damaging, as it took the offense from 3rd-and-2 to 3rd-and-7 in the third quarter, and McCarthy threw one of his bad incompletions on the third-down play instead of a possible running play or a shorter throw without the penalty.
7. Other than the final TD drive, the positives on offense were no sacks allowed and a strong rushing attack with Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason combining for 115 yards on 22 carries (5.2 average) and Mason’s 16-yard TD run, with Jefferson throwing a great block along with Will Fries and Brian O’Neill to lead the way.
That short TD drive of 24 yards on two Mason runs was set up by Myles Price’s exciting 43-yard punt return.
It was surprising that McCarthy had no runs in the game after he had a 14-yard TD in the opening win in Chicago, and Giants QB Jaxson Dart ran for 66 yards and two TDs last week against the Bears.
8. A couple of big negative stats-wise that need to be turned around going forward: the Bears had a time of possession advantage of 37-23 minutes and converted 7 of 18 third downs (38.9%) compared to 3 of 11 (27.3%) for the Vikings.
Around the NFL Observations from Week 11
1. The Lions had a rough game in a 16-9 loss in Philly, with Jared Goff completing only 14 of 37 passes with an interception. Detroit hosts the Giants this week, while the Bears are home against the AFC North-leading Steelers, with Aaron Rodgers a question mark after injuring his non-throwing wrist in Sunday’s win over the Bengals.
The Packers beat the Giants 27-20 in the Meadowlands, with top running back Josh Jacobs injuring his knee, and he’s considered “day to day.” Jordan Love hurt his shoulder in the game but returned to action as he only threw for 174 yards (two TDs).
2. In other key games, the Rams intercepted Sam Darnold four times in winning their first-place showdown with the Seahawks. We know Darnold had trouble with the Rams last season, in two losses, including the Vikings’ playoff defeat, when he was sacked nine times.
Denver basically knocked Kansas City out of the AFC West race with a 22-19 home win. The Broncos are 9-2 and the Chiefs are 5-5 with a lot of work to do to make the playoffs (they host the 8-2 Colts this Sunday).
Vikings-Packers next up:
I’ll be back on Friday to preview the Vikings-Packers border battle with a lot on the line for both teams. Green Bay will be seeking to avenge the Vikings’ sweep of their two games last season, including the wild Week 4 game in which the Vikings jumped off to a 28-0 first-half lead but had to hang on for the 31-29 win with Aaron Jones having 139 combined yards rushing and receiving in his return to Lambeau.
Darnold passed for 377 yards and three TDs in the Vikings’ 27-25 home win in Week 17. The Packers trailed 27-10 in that game before making it close with 15 fourth-quarter points.
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