It was always going to be a roller coaster with young quarterback J.J. McCarthy stepping into the spotlight for the Vikings.
There were going to be stretches where he looked really good like he did late in the 27-24 win over the Chicago Bears last week. There were also going to be stretches where he looked really bad like he did throughout the 22-6 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday night at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The blame wasn’t all on McCarthy’s shoulders, however, as the the offense couldn’t get much going in the aggregate. That spoiled a performane from the defense that should have been enough to earn a win.
Here are some takeaways from the Vikings’ 22-6 loss to the Falcons:
More growing pains for J.J. McCarthy
Truthfully, if McCarthy didn’t mount such an impressive comeback last week, the conversation surrounding him would be much more volatile right now. Though he certainly deserves credit for the way he led the Vikings to a win over the Bears, it shouldn’t be overlooked that he struggled for prolonged stretches in that game, too. There have been more lows than highs from McCarthy so far. The mistakes that plagued him against the Bears were on reared their ugly head against the Falcons when he completed 11 of 21 passes for 158 yards to go along with a pair of interceptions and a fumble. He needs to be more consistent from the jump. That’s the next step in his development. He can’t continue to ride the roller coaster like he has been to this point.
It’s time to lean on Jordan Mason
There were a few times against the Falcons that the Vikings simply should’ve given the ball to running back Jordan Mason. The most notable was when the Vikings had the ball in the low red zone with a chance to score a touchdown. Not once did Mason touch the ball on that sequence and they settled for a field goal. After acquiring the human bowling ball via trade, the Vikings would be wise to use him more. Not only does Mason have good vision with the ball in his hands, he has a 5-foot-11, 225-pound frame that should help take a load of McCarthy in the early stages of his career.
Not enough targets for Justin Jefferson
Maybe the best way to get McCarthy into a rhythm would be letting him throw to the best receiver on the planet as much as possible. There’s no reason star receiver Justin Jefferson should only have a half dozen targets in a game. That total should always be well into the double digits. The biggest play against the Falcons came when McCarthy found Jefferson over the middle for a gain of 50 yards. That came from making a concerted effort to let it rip, and while that worked in that specific situation, McCarthy should also be getting the ball into Jefferson’s hands closer to the line of scrimmage. Not everything for the Vikings has to be an intermediate route in space.
More injuries on offensive line
It’s getting ugly for the Vikings in the trenches on offense. Not only is star left tackle Christian Darrisaw still finishing up his recovery process, veteran center Ryan Kelly played against the Falcons before being placed in in concussion protocol, which thrust young center Michael Jurgens into action. It was a similar story for left tackle Justin Skule, who was placed in concussion protocol, prompting fellow left tackle Walter Rouse to step up. The makeshift group up front wasn’t ideal conditions for McCarthy as he gets acclimated to what life is like at the highest level.
Need to improve stopping the run
As much praise as the defense deserves for the way it played against the Falcons, it still gave up too many chunk runs, which resulted the unit allowing 218 yards on the ground. That’s way too much. If the Vikings continue down that path, they will eventually get blown out. Not every team is going to have to keep settling for field goal after field goal each time the reach the red zone.
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