Strib: Souhan likey Primetime JJM

[StickierBuns]

Souhan: J.J. McCarthy’s prime-time performance for Vikings worthy of a dance

The quarterback’s improved play in his first back-to-back NFL victories is giving reason for optimism amid a frustrating season.

https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-vi.../601546094

[purplefaithful]

ARLINGTON, TEXAS – Watching a young quarterback learn how to thrive in the NFL is one of the great joys in sports. Especially when the young quarterback is joyful to begin with.

Against the Dallas Cowboys, the Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy didn’t just star on “Sunday Night Football,” he performed a couple of star turns worthy of a red carpet in a 34-26 victory at AT&T Stadium.

When he scored, easily, on a bootleg, he defied his coach’s wishes and danced in the end zone.

When he took the final snap of the game and knelt, he popped up immediately and flipped the ball backward over his head to a teammate.

Not long ago, you could have said that McCarthy couldn’t help his team; now, when things go well, he can’t help himself.

“I did it in practice and was told not to do it,” McCarthy said of his end zone celebration. “But me, being who I am, I was even more enticed to do it.”

Said Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell: “I would say the finish, I wouldn’t classify as special. It was ‘entertaining.’ I guess we are in the entertainment business.”

A month ago, the Vikings’ concern was that McCarthy couldn’t reach the end zone. Now they get to worry about what happens when he gets there.

McCarthy was outstanding the rest of the way, finishing with 15 completions on 24 attempts for 250 yards and two touchdowns and 15 yards on four runs and another TD.

What matters is the eye test, and McCarthy passed that with throws like these:

On the first of two touchdown passes to Jalen Nailor, McCarthy rolled left and saw Nailor sprinting toward the end zone. Wilson had him covered, but McCarthy correctly judged that Nailor would outrun him, and lofted a perfect pass toward the sideline for a touchdown. That’s the kind of throw a lot of NFL quarterbacks either can’t make, or won’t try to make. “What a throw,” O’Connell said.

In the third quarter, McCarthy saw tight end T.J. Hockenson running a seam route and zipped a completion for 29 yards, showing off his arm strength, as well as accuracy that was missing earlier this season. McCarthy said that was his favorite throw of the night.

Later on that drive, the Vikings faced fourth-and-3. McCarthy saw Nailor being single-covered, and covered well, with Dallas cornerback Shavon Revel Jr. playing him toward the middle of the field. McCarthy lofted a touch pass away from Revel, Nailor spun to catch it for a 23-yard gain, and the Vikings were on their way to a go-ahead touchdown.

“For me, personally, that was something that was difficult because I was a big fastball guy,” McCarthy said. “But working constantly and obsessively on being a thrower of the football, a passer of the football … just give him a chance to catch the ball, and he’s going to do it, actually. That’s who he is.”

Veteran center Ryan Kelly said that McCarthy kept the faith of his teammates even when struggling because of his attitude and accountability. When McCarthy ran for that touchdown, he said, “The first guy that I hear is Ryan Kelly saying, `I love you, bro, you’re an animal.’“

Suddenly, McCarthy is more fun than a snow day.

[greediron]

"On his first dropback, he threw a pass that blitzing safety Donovan Wilson tipped into the air, then McCarthy failed to bat it down, leading to an interception."

Actually JJ did bat the ball away from Wilson. It was a good play, just took a lucky bounce for Dallas and into the lap of the big DT.

[purplefaithful]

The idea that the Vikings should try to improve their draft position is a terrible one. How about they see if they can win with young quarterback J.J. McCarthy?

ARLINGTON, TEXAS – Social media is a petri dish for bad ideas. One of the worst sprouted recently, and went something like this:

“The Vikings should lose the rest of their games to improve their draft position.”

Let me get this straight: Some people wanted the Vikings to enter the offseason without having the opportunity to see whether J.J. McCarthy can run a winning team, so the Vikings would have a slightly higher draft pick they would be forced to use for a quarterback to replace McCarthy, because McCarthy hadn’t been able to prove whether he could run a winning team.

How about this, instead: Use the relatively meaningless games at the end of the season to help McCarthy prove he deserves a chance to be the Vikings’ franchise quarterback, so they can enter the 2026 season with some optimism, and use their 2026 draft pick to help their aging secondary?

Here are the apparently-not-obvious-enough reasons the Vikings were right to play to win:

1. Winning is a habit

If high draft picks are so valuable, how come so many bad teams wind up with so many of them? Meanwhile, powerhouse organizations like the old Patriots dynasty, the Rams, Eagles, Chiefs and Ravens routinely have later draft picks but find winning players.

The Vikings’ plan for 2025 was to have McCarthy lead a veteran team to the playoffs. It wasn’t a bad plan; it was just poorly executed, either because McCarthy wasn’t ready or because of the ankle injury he suffered Week 2 against Atlanta.

That plan could work in 2026, if McCarthy can continue to prove himself over the next three games.

2. Too early to give up
McCarthy has produced many troubling moments and throws this season, but this never felt like the Christian Ponder experience.

Even when Ponder was winning games, you couldn’t find people in the organization vouching for him. He was winning because of Adrian Peterson and a strong defense in 2012, and everyone knew it.

McCarthy’s performances could make everyone cringe, but you could see arm talent, athletic ability, mental toughness and a positive attitude.

Giving up on a 22-year-old quarterback with those traits would have been silly, especially since the NFL is now filled with former first-round draft picks who thrived once given a chance to play for quality offensive coaches.

The Vikings had little choice but to spend the rest of 2025 giving McCarthy every chance to solidify his position as this team’s starter. At the moment, he appears to have done just that.

Let’s say the Vikings had decided to tank the rest of the season. They then would not have put McCarthy in positions where he could succeed. They then would have had to conclude, at the end of McCarthy’s second season, that he had not yet earned the title of franchise quarterback.

If that had happened, the Vikings would have been forced to either draft a competitor at the position, or spend money signing a veteran to compete with him.

McCarthy has more to prove, but he is on his way to giving the Vikings every reason to build around him. That would mean not spending big money or a high draft pick on another quarterback, so the Vikings can invest in their secondary.

3. The Employment Insurance Act
Don’t forget the people who decided to trade up to get McCarthy in the 2024 draft hold positions with short shelf lives.

To give up on McCarthy would be to admit a grievous mistake, perhaps a career-altering mistake.

General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and coach Kevin O’Connell have a lot of reputational equity tied up in McCarthy.

Adofo-Mensah needs McCarthy to salvage or obscure his poor history in the draft. O’Connell needs McCarthy to succeed to maintain his unofficial status as a “quarterback whisperer.”

O’Connell earned that nickname by working with veteran quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold. McCarthy represents a chance for O’Connell to develop a quarterback.

That appears to be what he is doing.

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