Everything is on your shoulders now, J.J. McCarthy. No pressure.
Minnesota’s latest disappointment, a 37-10 loss to the Chargers on Thursday night football in Los Angeles, dropped the Vikings to 3-4 — not a great spot for a team with the softest portion of its schedule behind it. The playoffs are looking like a longshot with 10 games to play.
After a promising start, the Carson Wentz era might have just ended with a thud.
So, back to the second-year signal caller the Vikings will almost assuredly go. It’d be a stunning surprise if McCarthy isn’t under center when Minnesota takes on Detroit on Nov. 2. His return to the spotlight will mark a crossroads for the franchise. Who’s to say he won’t play well? Few top-15 picks have been written off as quickly as McCarthy, who still has just two starts under his belt.
It’s entirely possible the 22-year-old makes major strikes over the back half of the season and elevates the Vikings back into playoff contention. If he shows persistent flashes of potential stardom, the Vikings have a path forward.
But if he doesn’t — if McCarthy picks up where he left off, continues to struggle and Minnesota’s season sputters to an uninspiring finish — everything will be in question for this team: Why can’t Minnesota sustain year-over-year success under this regime? Why, if Minnesota went cheap at signal caller, is the defense and offensive line struggling so mightily? And is Kevin O’Connell really this grand quarterback whisperer?
O’Connell has been unable to get the results required out of his backup quarterbacks to keep the Vikings’ ship afloat.
Wentz, who was under duress for large segments of Thursday’s bout, showed a lot more bad than good during his month under center. And the Vikings’ offense on Thursday bordered on incompetent. The team’s only touchdown came after an interception set the Vikings up at the Chargers’ 26-yard line — and even then, Minnesota required an illegal contact penalty on a fourth down to extend the drive.
The Vikings tallied just 164 yards of total offense. Wentz was sacked five times and threw an interception before he was mercifully taken out in favor of Gophers product Max Brosmer for the game’s final drive. Sam Darnold remade his career under O’Connell’s tutelage last season, but not Wentz. Nor did Josh Dobbs or Nick Mullens.
At the moment, it looks as though Darnold is simply a good player. If McCarthy doesn’t meet a similar standard, letting both Darnold and Daniel Jones — the latter is starring for the upstart Colts — walk out the door this offseason will serve as a massive organizational blunder, and O’Connell’s ability to evaluate the position will be heavily scrutinized.
As it stands, this is twice in three years that Minnesota has been ill-equipped to handle a quarterback injury. It’s a stark contrast to, say, San Francisco, where Kyle Shanahan has Mac Jones playing the best football of his career in relief of injured Brock Purdy. As a result, the banged-up 49ers are 5-2.
Ten months ago, Minnesota looked like a Super Bowl contender. Now, it looks like a candidate for another rebuild. The Vikings are currently lost in the land of teams who aren’t settled at quarterback and aren’t good enough anywhere else to make up for that instability.
So, now it’s up to McCarthy to prove over the next two months that he is indeed that long-term answer Minnesota desperately needs to the NFL’s most pertinent question.
Otherwise, an ominous offseason awaits.
Related Articles
Vikings get embarrassed in blowout loss to Chargers in primetime
Aaron Jones activated from IR. What does his return mean for the Vikings?
Carson Wentz can’t stand Thursday Night Football. How’d the Vikings handle the short week?
Vikings at Chargers: What to know ahead of Week 8 matchup
Vikings picks: Why we think Minnesota loses Thursday
Leave a Reply