So here's why I'm worried about JJ....

[Vikesrock]

Both of those guys are still working through it. Honestly, if Carolina is going to give Young as long as they have to figure it out, you'd think fans might give JJ more than 5 games. Young has played in 39 NFL games and is 11-26 as a starter. How many game winning drives you think he's had? JJ should have 3 in 5 games started. There's big potential there, but he needs to dial in those easy throws.

Fans need to have perspective, which really is the last thing most fans have. Its ok to be concerned without losing your shit. You can criticize without sounding so completely hopeless and doom-saying. You can vent one day, find reasons for optimism the next. Hold strong opinions and then admit when they're wrong. I mean, we all want the same thing on this board, don't we?

Just one before I die.  Unfortunately I am 2 heart attacks in and a cheeseburger short of it.....so come ON JJ!

[purplefaithful]

Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy needs experience like Bryce Young once did. Adam Thielen would know.

Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen said he can see a parallel between one of his former teammates, Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young, and his current quarterback, J.J. McCarthy.

Thielen said McCarthy “is not lacking the skill set, he’s not lacking the competitiveness, he’s not lacking the confidence,” but that it’s just a matter of experience for the 22-year-old quarterback who is five starts into his NFL career.

Thielen said that’s what Young, the Panthers’ No. 1 overall pick in 2023, needed when going through a difficult first two seasons. Thielen was a go-to target while Young completed about 60% of his passes and totaled 32 touchdowns (passing and rushing) to 27 turnovers across 2023 and 2024.

Now in his third season, Young is guiding the 6-5 Panthers. During his 38th start, Sunday’s overtime win at Atlanta, Young threw for a franchise-record 448 yards and three touchdowns.

“Look at what Bryce is doing now,” Thielen said Monday. “He’s got a lot of confidence. I think being in the same system a couple years, being around a lot of the same guys and just trusting the system. ... I’m sure he’s leaning on a ton of experiences over the last few years that were some really tough moments individually and as a team.”

“There’s no timeline,” Thielen added, “that says at this point in your career you’re going to have success, but if you just stay the course and trust it and lean on that experience, good things happen.”

Thielen said he has had that discussion with McCarthy, whose inaccuracy has been a primary culprit for an NFL-low 52.9% completion rate. They have talked about how some mistakes are necessary growing pains for next time, when Thielen said he expects McCarthy to get “better and better.”

“Well, now I got that same play call or similar-type deal, and I’m going to get it out on my first hitch,” Thielen said. “You need that experience, right? Practice doesn’t necessarily prepare you 100% for that.”


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[Vikergirl]

Both of those guys are still working through it. Honestly, if Carolina is going to give Young as long as they have to figure it out, you'd think fans might give JJ more than 5 games. Young has played in 39 NFL games and is 11-26 as a starter. How many game winning drives you think he's had? JJ should have 3 in 5 games started. There's big potential there, but he needs to dial in those easy throws.

Fans need to have perspective, which really is the last thing most fans have. Its ok to be concerned without losing your shit. You can criticize without sounding so completely hopeless and doom-saying. You can vent one day, find reasons for optimism the next. Hold strong opinions and then admit when they're wrong. I mean, we all want the same thing on this board, don't we?

This is exactly my point. It takes time for a qb to develop, certainly more than 5 games. But there is going to be ups and downs. Too many people are losing their minds about it. I get it, I really do but people need to calm down. We have to let things play out.

[purplefaithful]

For the first time in his NFL career Sunday, J.J. McCarthy played an entire game without being sacked. He was the first Vikings QB to do so since Oct. 23, 2023, when Kirk Cousins made his last start at U.S. Bank Stadium.

In each game since that surprising Monday night win over the 49ers that seemed to turn around the Vikings’ 2023 season, the team had allowed at least one sack. That streak ended Sunday, when the Vikings kept McCarthy from being sacked the entire game and the Bears pressured him on just nine of his 32 dropbacks. But Chicago’s pass rushers became the latest to affect McCarthy another way: by getting their hands up.

The Bears batted two of McCarthy’s passes in their 19-17 win, with Tremaine Edmunds getting a piece of a third-and-8 throw that landed between T.J. Hockenson and Justin Jefferson midway through the fourth quarter, before Montez Sweat tipped the quarterback’s third-down throw for Aaron Jones Sr. before the two-minute warning.

McCarthy has eight batted or tipped passes among his 140 attempts this season, according to Pro Football Focus. It puts him eighth in the NFL, just one behind Patrick Mahomes, who has thrown 361 passes this year.

In terms of frequency, there’s no quarterback who’s had his passes deflected more. Among quarterbacks with at least 100 attempts, McCarthy’s 5.7% rate of batted or tipped passes is the highest in the NFL. Just last week against the Ravens, he had five of his 42 passes batted or tipped.

Asked Monday to identify the cause of the batted passes, coach Kevin O’Connell pointed to two familiar themes: McCarthy’s pocket mechanics, and the tactics opposing defenses are using against the young quarterback.

“I think last week was a product of a few downs where some of the big guys from Baltimore, that was their role on the play was to block some shots,” O’Connell said. “But then, there was also some times where I think we’re moving pretty aggressively, churning up, eating up some space and the friendliness of the pocket. We’ve got to continue to find that balance and that posture and then maintain it without chewing up too much grass.”

O’Connell has talked about McCarthy running into trouble when he steps a little too far forward in the pocket and puts himself in close proximity to defensive linemen. The quarterback’s tendency to throw line drives is no secret either, and it’s here where McCarthy’s throwing trajectory could leave him susceptible to batted passes.

Even if linemen aren’t able to pressure him, they can still affect a play by knocking down a throw, changing its trajectory or turning it into the kind of wobbling interception target the Vikings often snagged last year.

Vikings receivers didn’t help McCarthy much Sunday, dropping six of his passes, according to Pro Football Focus. For the season, the quarterback has the highest rate of dropped passes in the NFL, with 14.9% of his on-target passes being dropped by the receiver, per PFF.

There again, it’s worth wondering whether the quarterback could help reduce the drop rate by throwing a more catchable ball.

“I would have to go back and look at what we’re deeming true drops versus, are the guys having to work to make catches consistently outside the frame of their body?” O’Connell said. “I mean, I thought some of some of our best completions of the day were well-thrown footballs and guys made some plays for him as well. ...

Each individual play is going to be magnified, especially when you are running [the ball] and trying to maintain a rhythm for the offense. Part of maintaining that is just finding the way to pitch and catch on a couple of those looks. It’s a pitch and catch element that has kind of made this offense kind of fit.”

After the game, McCarthy said bad habits can sometimes resurface in games, when tensions rise as the stakes escalate. It’s why O’Connell continued to remind him about having his feet and eyes work together, both to reinforce one of the Vikings’ QB coaching staples and to provide a sense of calm in the routine elements of the position.

And in certain moments, like the pass Sweat tipped Sunday, O’Connell finds himself musing about how close the play was to a different outcome.

“We kind of called it with the intent of maybe knowing that Montez Sweat would be free off that edge if he didn’t peel with the back, because nobody had him in man coverage,” O’Connell said. “There’s so many times where you’re watching, and you’re finding the word ‘if’ showing up in a lot of your responses. ... If we can get that ball thrown over Montez on that one, it’s not a batted pass, it’s an Aaron Jones catch-and-run.”

The Vikings have little choice but to continue rehearsing and repeating the details of the position, so McCarthy builds the muscle memory to give them what they want on Sundays.

“I thought there are some plays where he’s making it hard on himself. I think that’s probably the most frustrating part for him,” O’Connell said. “It’s talked about and repped and practiced at length, and then in those moments, in his fifth start, it’s just the variance to it. It’s causing his job to be more difficult than it needs to be. And he’s wildly capable of making the throws that present themselves.

There were some good throws in there as well. Some throws there late [in the game] that, even after what had been a frustrating day for him, his ability to still respond and move the team late to get a lead, he’s made of the right stuff. He’s going to keep working at it.”

[Zanary]

Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy needs experience like Bryce Young once did. Adam Thielen would know.

Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen said he can see a parallel between one of his former teammates, Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young, and his current quarterback, J.J. McCarthy.

Thielen said McCarthy “is not lacking the skill set, he’s not lacking the competitiveness, he’s not lacking the confidence,” but that it’s just a matter of experience for the 22-year-old quarterback who is five starts into his NFL career.

Thielen said that’s what Young, the Panthers’ No. 1 overall pick in 2023, needed when going through a difficult first two seasons. Thielen was a go-to target while Young completed about 60% of his passes and totaled 32 touchdowns (passing and rushing) to 27 turnovers across 2023 and 2024.

Now in his third season, Young is guiding the 6-5 Panthers. During his 38th start, Sunday’s overtime win at Atlanta, Young threw for a franchise-record 448 yards and three touchdowns.

“Look at what Bryce is doing now,” Thielen said Monday. “He’s got a lot of confidence. I think being in the same system a couple years, being around a lot of the same guys and just trusting the system. ... I’m sure he’s leaning on a ton of experiences over the last few years that were some really tough moments individually and as a team.”

“There’s no timeline,” Thielen added, “that says at this point in your career you’re going to have success, but if you just stay the course and trust it and lean on that experience, good things happen.”

Thielen said he has had that discussion with McCarthy, whose inaccuracy has been a primary culprit for an NFL-low 52.9% completion rate. They have talked about how some mistakes are necessary growing pains for next time, when Thielen said he expects McCarthy to get “better and better.”

“Well, now I got that same play call or similar-type deal, and I’m going to get it out on my first hitch,” Thielen said. “You need that experience, right? Practice doesn’t necessarily prepare you 100% for that.”


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But...but...but...Thielen's an experienced and respected NFL player...he can't know or understand the game like a s**t-talking armchair coach/GM can!