Vikings Had Another Young QB Disaster in Seattle
Who saw this Vikings quarterback mess coming? Going back to training camp, I witnessed J.J. McCarthy completing 13 straight passes in a scrimmage against the New England defense without Justin Jefferson in the lineup.
The Vikings endured yet another setback in Seattle, watching their young quarterback struggle badly as the offense stalled and long-term concerns grew louder.
I thought Coach Kevin O’Connell and QB Coach Josh McCown would coach up McCarthy to be a quality first-year starter who would benefit from an improved offensive line and outstanding skill position players led by Jefferson. I actually predicted a division title and at least one postseason victory.
After Sunday’s loss in Seattle, that’s not happening this season.
QB Performances Sink Vikings — Over and Over
The backup QB spot was of concern, but the signing of veteran Carson Wentz seemed to be an ok move. I certainly didn’t expect to see McCarthy’s injury issues and inconsistency compounded by Wentz landing on injured reserve and third-string rookie Max Brosmer leading the team against a top-10 defense in noisy Seattle, but playing terribly, with no points, four sacks allowed, and four interceptions, including the game-changing Pick 6.
I was concerned back in August about whether the O-line would stay healthy, which obviously has not been the case, including Sunday in Seattle, when three backups finished the game. I didn’t foresee so many dropped passes by the Vikings’ talented receiving corps, including two more by Jordan Addison on Sunday and one that was thrown behind Justin Jefferson, but catchable for a receiver of his caliber.
As for Brosmer, I didn’t expect him to be a savior, but the extent of his unraveling on Sunday was ugly to see. He was worse than McCarthy has been since J.J.’s Week 9 win in Detroit.
Brosmer is supposed to be competent and prepared. Well, I’ve rarely, if ever, seen an NFL QB make a worse decision than Brosmer did on 4th-and-Goal from the Seattle 4 in a 3-0 game when he made that horrendous underarm toss under pressure that was easily picked off by Ernest Jones and returned 85 yards for a 10-0 Seahawks lead. A TD at that juncture would’ve put the Vikings up 7-3 or a field goal—which O’Connell should’ve opted for–could have tied the game.
The QB play continues to be some of the worst I’ve ever seen from Viking quarterbacks in the many decades I worked for the team or was a fan, and now as a media person covering the Vikings (although we know how poorly Sam Darnold played in the last two games in 2024, but Brosmer was worse in Seattle).
Brosmer should’ve been pulled in the mid-third quarter and certainly after his overthrow of Jalen Nailor resulted in an interception late in the third quarter. Why not give John Wolford a shot since he has started four games in his career? It couldn’t be any worse than how Brosmer was playing.
The lack of quality depth on the O-line from poor recent drafting continues to show up when starters are out, as was the case Sunday with Christian Darrisaw and Donovan Jackson missing, and injury-prone Ryan Kelly left the game in the second half with a hip flexor (fortunately not another concussion for him).
Never thought I’d see an O’Connell offense shut out (26-0), which happened to the Vikings for the first time since 2007.
The Vikings QB trio of McCarthy, Wentz, and Brosmer has combined for a league-worst 69.1 passer rating, which dropped on Sunday with Brosmer’s dismal 32.8 rating.
By comparison, the Vikings with Darnold at the helm checked in at 102.9 (6th) last season, and the Kirk Cousins-led passing game finished 12th in 2022 with a 93.1 rating. In part, based on those stats (plus, of course, the turnover ratio: plus 2 in 2022, plus 12 last year, and minus 15 this season), it’s not surprising the Vikings won 14 games last season, 13 in 2022, and are stuck on four wins with five games remaining.
Here are my other reactions from the Vikings’ loss in Seattle:
1. That makes six straight quarters without a point going back to the second half last week in Green Bay. Hard to believe.
2. Kick the field goal on the ill-fated 4th-and-1, KOC: it was more like a yard and a half, so with a rookie QB and the defense playing well, I say forget what analytics says and kick the field goal for a 3-3 tie in the second quarter.
3. Catch the ball to help your young QBs, Addison and Jefferson: for a top duo in the league, there have been far too many drops this season, especially in recent weeks.
Jefferson had only two catches for four yards on six targets. What a waste of one of the NFL’s best receivers. The Vikings finally got T.J. Hockenson more involved with six catches for 59 yards. And Addison had five receptions for 36 yards, but on 10 targets, so that wasn’t great production for him.
4. Defense should sue for non-support: there’s been offensive ineptitude caused by lousy QB play, pressures/sacks, too many dropped passes, an inconsistent and too often underutilized run game, injuries, and special teams miscues three straight weeks that contributed to losses. But aside from the lack of takeaways, the defense has played well enough to win every game during the current four-game losing streak.
The D held Seattle’s 7th-ranked offense (and 3rd-ranked in scoring) to only 219 net yards and 19 points, with the final 7 coming in the fourth quarter when the game was already decided.
Darnold was held to 128 passing yards with no TDs. He was sacked four times and had five passes deflected. The NFL’s leading receiver — Jaxon Smith-Njigba — was limited to two catches for 23 yards in his worst outing this season. The Seahawks rushed for 125 yards but only had a 3.9-yard average per carry.
5. The defense finally produced a takeaway after the last three games without one, and Jalen Nailor’s hustle after Brosmer’s fourth pick produced a forced fumble by Nailor that he recovered. But the five giveaways by the offense (four interceptions and an Aaron Jones fumble) meant the Vikings were minus three in turnovers on Sunday.
They’re minus-11 over the last four games and minus-15 for the season, worst in the league. Their 11 takeaways are the fewest, and the 26 giveaways are the most of any team, as are the 19 interceptions. It’s an incredibly bad turnaround from last year, when the Vikings’ plus-12 ratio ranked third, and their 33 takeaways and 24 interceptions led the league.
The Vikings defenders deflected five of Darnold’s passes, but none resulted in an interception, while the Seahawks had a pick by Ernest Jones off a broken-up pass intended for Jefferson. It’s a combination of bad luck with the ball not bouncing right and lack of playmaking, such as Byron Murphy not coming up with a pick off a dropped pass that went through Murphy’s hands.
To his credit, Murphy did a good job when he was assigned to cover Smith-Njigba, but the Vikings’ corner, who made his first Pro Bowl last year with six interceptions, has none so far this year.
6. Dallas Turner’s ascending is a bright spot: two sacks, two forced fumbles, two tackles-for-loss, three QB hits, one pass deflection, and five tackles for the 2024 first-rounder. He could’ve been the NFC Defensive Player of the Week if the Vikings had won. Turner has four sacks in the last three games and leads the team with 5.5 sacks (after having only three in his rookie season).
Inside linebacker Eric Wilson also had a productive game (11 tackles, one sack, four tackles-for-loss).
7. Too many penalties resurfaces as an issue: 10 penalties for 80 yards compared to four for 25 yards for the Seahawks.
8. Sad to see Adam Thielen’s return to the Vikings did not pan out as well as it was hoped: only eight catches for 69 yards (plus a two-point conversion on a reception in the opening win at Chicago). The two-time Pro Bowler was a great success story as an undrafted player signed after a tryout, and he became one of the greatest receivers in team history. He asked for his release to try and catch on with another team for more play time as he wraps up his final season.
Around the NFL Observations from Week 13
1. Going back to Thanksgiving and Black Friday, there were statement wins by the Packers and Bears. Green Bay knocked off the Lions 31-24 in Detroit behind Jordan Love’s four TD passes and Micah Parsons’ 2.5 sacks. Chicago upset the Eagles in Philly 24-15 in a dominant rushing performance as D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai combined for 255 yards and two TDs on the ground.
The Bears hold a half-game lead at 9-3 over the 8-3-1 Packers, and the two teams will meet twice in the next three weeks, starting with this Sunday’s game at Lambeau Field. The Lions have fallen to 7-5, and the Packers swept their two games, so a repeat NFC North title is unlikely for Detroit.
2. After hosting the Commanders this Sunday, the Vikings head to Dallas for a Sunday night game against a Cowboys team that beat the Chiefs on Thanksgiving and has won three straight to stay in the playoff hunt at 6-5-1. Dallas is at Detroit on Thursday night in a massive game for both teams.
3. The biggest upset on Sunday was Carolina beating the Rams 31-28 in Charlotte. Bryce Young continued his improvement in Year 3 with three TD passes and a 147 passer rating (further showing there’s hope for McCarthy since Young did not play well early in his career).
After eight straight games with no interceptions, MVP favorite Matthew Stafford threw two picks (including a Pick 6) and lost a fumble.
4. The AFC South race is heating up as the Jaguars and Colts are tied for the lead at 8-4 heading into their matchup this Sunday at Jacksonville. The Texans are on a push with four straight victories (including a 20-16 win in Indianapolis on Sunday) to reach 7-5, and they have a big game on Sunday night at Kansas City. The Chiefs have dropped to 6-6 and need a win to stay in the wild card race.
The Steelers and Ravens are tied for the AFC North lead at 6-6, and they face each other in Baltimore on Sunday.
I’ll be back on Friday to preview Sunday’s Vikings-Commanders game at U.S. Bank Stadium. This is a game that looked much more attractive back in May when the schedule was released, since it involves two teams that were in the playoffs last season before falling on hard times so far in 2025.
Washington is 3-9 and has missed their star QB Jayden Daniels for the last three games due to an elbow injury. He practiced on a limited basis last week before being held out, and he may be able to return on Sunday to face the Vikings.
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