J.J. McCarthy and Vikings offense’s process to be tested following Falcons loss

MINNEAPOLIS — They knew this was possible. When head coach Kevin O’Connell and the other Minnesota Vikings’ decision-makers chose to go this route for 2025, they knew he could be standing here postgame at the lectern, looking like he’d just lived through four hours of misery.

Young quarterbacks tend to be a bit of a roller-coaster ride. Your strategy may be sound. Your roster may be talented and constructed with intent. But there are no guarantees.

It’s one thing to know that, but it’s another thing to feel it. That is why O’Connell, just minutes removed from his team’s 22-6 beatdown at the hands of the Atlanta Falcons, seemed like he was still processing the disastrous display.

Minnesota had just produced the worst offensive performance, according to EPA per play, of O’Connell’s head-coaching tenure. How much of this was to be expected? How much of it was in his own control? How was he going to try to frame an offensive output that was even worse than the Green Bay Packers’ 2023 smackdown against Jaren Hall and the team’s 2022 no-show against the Dallas Cowboys? He highlighted the all-11 feel of the struggles. He reiterated his confidence in the locker room. He then arrived at a telling place.

“This is going to be a process for our team,” O’Connell said.

The Vikings chose this path. It’s why they moved on from Kirk Cousins in the spring of 2024, and why they opted not to sign Sam Darnold or Aaron Rodgers this spring. The decision signaled faith in quarterback J.J. McCarthy, but the facts were inarguable.

He was young. He had just spent months rehabbing a torn meniscus. And his brief college career left a need for developmental time. For comparison, consider Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who attempted more than double the number of passes as McCarthy in college.

Expecting McCarthy to take the reins and light up the National Football League would have been foolish. That’s why the Vikings’ offseason plan was so well thought out. They signed a handful of previously injured veterans on short-term deals, players who probably fit best for the team’s immediate needs.

Meanwhile, McCarthy was a long-term investment, which is why the present dynamics might be a test more than anything else. A test of patience for O’Connell, superstar receiver Justin Jefferson, the defense and even the fans. And a test of how strong the scaffolding is around McCarthy.

He wasn’t accurate enough Sunday night. He also held the ball too long at times. McCarthy’s 4.8 quick pass percentage, according to Next Gen Stats, was the lowest mark by a quarterback in a game since it began tracking the metric in 2016.

“It’s going to be easy to try to put the microscope on J.J.,” O’Connell said, “and there are certainly some plays and throws and things I’m sure he would love to get another opportunity at.”

The two most glaring misses happened in the second half. In the third quarter, with the Vikings still trailing by only six points, McCarthy aimed a third-and-9 attempt at Jefferson. The pocket was clean, and McCarthy’s mechanics looked compact. Before the ball reached Jefferson, it skipped across the turf.

Not too long after, on a third-and-1 situation in the fourth quarter, O’Connell tried to alter the momentum with one play. Receiver Jalen Nailor burst from the slot down the left sideline. He distanced himself from the cornerback, but McCarthy sailed the pass.

Less noticeable hiccups fall on the 22-year-old quarterback, too. A couple of times, he attempted to climb the pocket, only to allow pass rushers to converge on him. In other instances, he held the ball in the pocket, rather than getting rid of it more quickly or simply throwing it away.

McCarthy’s pressure-to-sack rate through two games is 52.9 percent, according to TruMedia, which is the highest among any qualified starter. He finished with 158 yards and two interceptions on 11-of-21 passing.

“There are a lot of opportunities where we left money on the table with just not getting the ball out faster,” the quarterback said.

The circumstances around him haven’t helped. Elite left tackle Christian Darrisaw hasn’t played in the team’s first two games. His fill-in, Justin Skule, became a pass-protecting liability in the Week 1 opener and allowed considerable leakage again Sunday night. Skule exited in the third quarter with a concussion, bringing in third-string tackle Walter Rouse, who was dinged for holding on his first play.

Left tackle isn’t the only offensive line issue. Center Ryan Kelly entered the medical tent in the second quarter and did not return, sidelined with his own concussion. Backup Michael Jurgens filled in admirably, but the long-term ramifications here are worth mentioning. Kelly has missed eight games in the last decade with three separate concussions: one in 2017 and two more in 2023. Lose him for any extended period of time, and the Vikings would miss the man who sets the aiming points in the run game.

Would things be different if Jordan Addison weren’t suspended for the first three games? Possibly. Are the problems correctable? The players think so. It should be noted that the longer the Vikings take to find a rhythm, the more staying alive in games will fall on a defense that has already been taxed by injuries.

“Like Coach said after the game, it was just one person here, one person there,” receiver Adam Thielen said. “It’s kind of a collective effort, everyone looking at themselves in the mirror.”

That includes even the best of the Vikings’ bunch. Right tackle Brian O’Neill squeezed down on a double team in the fourth quarter, allowing Falcons defensive end Zach Harrison to run free at McCarthy. The collision resulted in a fumble.

That includes the coaching staff. O’Connell said he thought about going for it on fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter after the Nailor incompletion. He decided against it, recalling an earlier fourth-down attempt where McCarthy bobbled the snap on a QB sneak.

Perhaps the sequence that most exemplifies what this night was — and what seven of the first eight quarters have been — happened midway through the second quarter. McCarthy had just completed his two most impressive throws of the night, a crossing pattern to Thielen and a corner route to Nailor. The Vikings possessed the ball at the 2-yard line with a chance to take an early lead.

The play called for McCarthy to fake a pitch to running back Jordan Mason, according to O’Connell. McCarthy mismanaged the ball. A delay of game before the next snap set the Vikings back, then Skule was beaten cleanly for a sack.

“He’s just learning on the fly right now,” O’Connell said postgame of McCarthy. “The way you overcome that is by the full group’s execution level being to a certain standard.”

After the game, in the locker room, Jefferson used an iteration of the word “execution” 13 times. He didn’t point fingers. Like O’Connell, he, too, maintained optimism.

It was a sign of understanding, a sign that a key cog in the wheel is still bought in. The question now is whether he and everyone can sustain their commitment in the short term to attain the long-term reward. The result of this process might depend on it.

(Photo of J.J. McCarthy: Matt Krohn / Imagn Images)

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