McCarthy is only going to get better

[purplefaithful]

Biggest thing I saw that was different in this start.  Our pre-snap process looked great.  No hurrying up to the line with the play clock winding down.  Everything seemed well oiled and on time. 

Just keep getting this kid reps.  We've seen big plays downfield, clutch factor, and he's making some plays with his legs.  The more experience he gets the better.  He makes the hard throws look easy, but still has some trouble making the easy throws look easy.  Not worried about that at all.  Those easy throws will be easy when he's gotten his 10K reps that KOC keeps talking about.

Excited for his future!

BOOM

YUP!

I made a mental note watching the game yesterday that JJM was up at the line in that 16-17 second mark. What a relief!

[pattersaur]

DETROIT - J.J. McCarthy is promising to put the “drama” in Dramamine.

If his third NFL start is an accurate indicator, Vikings fans better stock up on Prozac, Tums and CBD.

In a wildly entertaining and uneven performance Sunday, the Vikings’ once-and-current starting quarterback led what is certainly his franchise to a 27-24 victory over the Detroit Lions at Ford Field.

McCarthy has started three NFL games. The two in which he faced an NFC North rival on the road, he produced dramatic victories.

This was a major upset, and not just because that word described the state of fans’ stomachs all afternoon.

McCarthy played a brilliant first quarter, often looked lost or overwhelmed during the middle of the game, then made winning plays down the stretch.
His last pass came on third-and-5 from the Vikings 28-yard line with 1:41 remaining. Having thrown mostly fastballs all day, McCarthy threw a beautiful touch pass to Jalen Nailor for 16 yards — Nailor’s first catch of the game — to seal the victory.

After the game, McCarthy walked into a locker room waiting to celebrate him, and with him.

“It was awesome,” he said, choking up. “When you’re hurt — being on IR last year and being out for five weeks this year absolutely kills me. Not being out there with those guys, because I love every single one of them."

McCarthy won a national title for the University of Michigan, where he would show up for games wearing what looks like a gas-station work shirt with his initials embroidered on the chest. He wore that outfit again Sunday: blue work shirt, black cargo pants, black undershirt, black cap, untied gray shoes, and hair that stuck out at right angles.

He looked like the guy who cleans the pressbox after games, not the one who wrote the best story of the season.

“I’ve shed a lot of blood and tears in this state,” he said. “There’s so many relationships I’ve built over the three years that I was at Michigan.”

At times McCarthy looked like a panther, at times like a baby giraffe. His final stats — 14-for-25 for 143 yards — don’t hint at reality.

Which was: Watching this game live, it felt like McCarthy threw 100 passes and took 100 hits. Every play seemed scripted for maximum drama. He took five sacks, threw two touchdown passes, threw an interception, had another interception negated by a penalty and ran for a score.

The Vikings experienced Brett Favre in 2009. Now they’re experiencing what Green Bay Packers fans did when Favre was a youngster — the wild plays and wild swings of a burgeoning talent.

McCarthy has played in three NFL games. He engineered a wild comeback victory in Chicago with three fourth-quarter touchdowns. He played poorly and was injured against an Atlanta defense that has succeeded in stopping a few top quarterbacks this season.

Upon his return from a high right ankle sprain that inspired all kinds of inane conspiracy theories, McCarthy again looked like a premier athlete who looks like he wants to throw an 80-yard touchdown pass on every play.

He knows how to talk a good game, too. On Saturday, the team’s captains gave speeches. Asked about that, McCarthy said: “I just couldn’t sleep. It felt like I was catching this glare from the silver platter with the juicy opportunity on top of it.

“That’s what I told the guys, `You know, this opportunity is something that we’ve been asking for and praying for ever since we started wearing pads. You put everything into this moment, put everything into this game.”

The future is unknowable. What is certain is that McCarthy, in two of his three NFL starts, has offered glimpses into the thrilling experience of developing a talented, first-round, franchise quarterback.

He threw a bullet to Justin Jefferson for one touchdown, threw back against his body to T.J. Hockenson while running to the right for another touchdown, and outran the Detroit defense for an easy touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Then came that clinching throw to Nailor.

“Clutch is a myth,” McCarthy said, after proving himself wrong.

STRIB

McCarthy's Detroit connection somehow escaped my mind while watching the game yesterday. I'm surprised the announcers didn't beat us over the head with it like we got with that photo of a young JJM attending the Bears game in Week 1. There were probably lots of Michigan fans in attendance yesterday who found a silver lining in JJ's game.

I'm not too picky about announcers like some fans are, but Brady and the other guy did a nice job calling the game.

On the TD to JJ-- I thought he could've lofted it more but hey, it worked. Some of the catches Jefferson and Addison make are crazy. Even Nailor (who IMO caused the INT earlier even if the throw wasn't perfect) had the insane grab to finish things off. Hats off to the whole team for that one yesterday.

[Montana Tom]

Biggest thing I saw that was different in this start.  Our pre-snap process looked great.  No hurrying up to the line with the play clock winding down.  Everything seemed well oiled and on time. 

Just keep getting this kid reps.  We've seen big plays downfield, clutch factor, and he's making some plays with his legs.  The more experience he gets the better.  He makes the hard throws look easy, but still has some trouble making the easy throws look easy.  Not worried about that at all.  Those easy throws will be easy when he's gotten his 10K reps that KOC keeps talking about.

Excited for his future!

BOOM

I noticed this too, he was at the line with less than five seconds left on the play clock multiple times, but overall he seemed far more aware of the play clock than he did at the start of the season.  There was one play where the ball got snapped just as the play clock ticked to zero, but he got it off.  That was the closest all day that I saw.

[greediron]

Biggest thing I saw that was different in this start.  Our pre-snap process looked great.  No hurrying up to the line with the play clock winding down.  Everything seemed well oiled and on time. 

Just keep getting this kid reps.  We've seen big plays downfield, clutch factor, and he's making some plays with his legs.  The more experience he gets the better.  He makes the hard throws look easy, but still has some trouble making the easy throws look easy.  Not worried about that at all.  Those easy throws will be easy when he's gotten his 10K reps that KOC keeps talking about.

Excited for his future!

BOOM

We finally have a QB that teams are going to have rush controlled against.  Hutchinson looping inside led to his TD run.  And he smoked the poor mans Van Ginkel, little stutter and the guy was laying on the turf.  Nailor played his part well too, looping back inside to draw the defender with him.

[purplefaithful]

[Waterboy]

I agree, patience is key and he needs to stay on the field. He's been way too snake-bit.

Damn, the kid is very green and so young...And he sure didnt come out of a pro style in Michigan. So I might argue his growth curve is steeper than others in that class.

But hell, it's not a stretch to see the potential. One of these days I might be able to relax and let go of my Ponder PTSD.

I hated Ponder as a QB worse than any Viking QB in history.  I too still suffer from PTSD just watching his BS attempts to act like he was in any way going to be the leader of the team.  McCarthy is everything that Ponder was not.  I have no fears about his leadership, his ability to go through progressions, and just ultimately his likelihood to succeed.  We still need to see him take that next step to throwing for 300 yards on a team loading the box and playing tight man defenses, but outside of concerns with his hyped up lack of accuracy at times, I'm seeing the complete QB with the guy.  I think the things he needs to fix should be amongst the easiest.  I'm not sure he's ever going to throw the deep bomb as good as Darnold, but I think he's going to be good enough everywhere else that he's going to have WR's so open deep that the pinpoint accuracy on those throws won't be necessary.  I really feel the guy is the real deal.

[StickierBuns]

https://twitter.com/PatMcAfeeShow/status...3536480661

[DeepFreeze05]

Interesting.  Let's hope the Baltimore game doesn't mirror the Atlanta game.

Thankfully, this game is played in Minnesota and hopefully the crowd noise will be a factor helping the defense slow down Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. It will be really important for the offense to start strong and sustain drives to help keep the defense as fresh as possible.

---

He (McCarthy) said afterward that he doesn't believe in a "clutch" trait and that he got plenty of help Sunday, but it was hard to ignore McCarthy stepping up in the fourth quarter once again -- this time in front of thousands of fans who once rooted for him at Michigan.

He has certainly displayed it so far in the two road victories against the Bears and Lions.

[purplefaithful]

[IceRatz16]

Just like all the QBs from his class, JJ's going to play better and better as he gets more snaps. It's such a huge difference to go from Wentz's lack of vision, arm and mobility to McCarthy who has plenty of each. 

I love his intensity, but I do worry he might sometimes be a little TOO intense.

Can't be possible.     Ask Tom Brady or Peyton Manning or Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen if it's possible to be "too intense" at the position.  All four of them have been seen on the field and/or on the sidelines running their mouths and getting in the face of teammates either building them up or challenging them to be better.


McCarthy can't be too intense if he's balancing that with his meditations.  He even mentioned that the meditation helps calm him from his "ADHD" and ground him to visualize the games.  I truly believe in the power of visualization.

---

https://twitter.com/PatMcAfeeShow/status...3536480661

I freaking love McAfee.  He has resurrected (so has Saban) College Gameday and his show is always must-see tv/video.


He's spot on.  Leadership is something we missed with Cousins and most QBs we have had in years since Favre.  I would say Darnold did a good job leading the team, but he was never our future.  But with true leadership comes a team on both sides of the ball that will fight to win each and every week.  McCarthy is the recipe for better things to come offensively, but also defensively.