After Minnesota decided to go all-in on J.J. McCarthy, and Aaron Rodgers finally signed a one-year deal with Pittsburgh, it appeared Sunday’s game between the Vikings and Steelers was set for high drama — as in more than just who wins or loses the game.
Afterward, it seemed, there would be a referendum on whether Minnesota’s brain trust made the right choice in passing on Rodgers. While no quarterback matchup is truly a head-to-head contest, it would at least allow fans give it the old eye test.
Instead, Sunday morning’s game in Dublin will present Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah with the only head-to-head comparison that really matters right now: McCarthy vs. Carson Wentz.
Sidelined by a high-ankle sprain suffered in a 22-6 loss to Atlanta Week 2, McCarthy has been temporarily supplanted by Wentz, an 11-year pro who took over the offense and looked terrific in a 48-10 victory over Cincinnati last week at U.S. Bank Stadium.
O’Connell declined to answer a question Wednesday about whether McCarthy will automatically regain the starting job when he is healthy, because he’s not an idiot. Wentz didn’t look like Dan Fouts last Sunday, but he was just plain good, an accurate passer who looked absolutely at home in this offense despite not having a training camp to prepare.
After one game, O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah have to be wondering if Wentz, 32, can be this year’s Sam Darnold, who joined the team on a one-year deal last year and led the Vikings to a 14-2 record before the team was just outclassed by Detroit and, in the playoffs, the Los Angeles Rams.
The coach and GM have a decision to make, and Wentz can make it easier — if not definitive — by running the point in another victory Sunday. He doesn’t have to throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns, just use his experience to keep the chains moving. Mostly, he needs to show he won’t be rattled; that’s the biggest advantage Wentz has over McCarthy.
McCarthy, 22, had an admirable NFL debut, rallying the Vikings to beat the Bears in a Monday Night game in Chicago. There are a lot of reasons to believe he can be an excellent pro quarterback — from his size and arm strength to what we saw of his competitive spirit at Soldier Field. But there is no getting around the fact that he looked lost against the Falcons.
If the Vikings are serious about trying to win a Super Bowl — and with this defense and backfield, they should be — they need to be able to rely on their quarterback to make the right plays when required.
That’s an awful lot to ask of a quarterback playing his first NFL season, especially someone who hadn’t seen defenders in his face since he led Michigan past Washington in the 2024 NCAA championship game. McCarthy apparently has a beautiful mind, but when there are 11 guys suddenly stepping into gaps and running at you with malice in their eyes, well, it takes some getting used to.
Aaron Rodgers #8 of the Pittsburgh Steelers is sacked by Milton Williams #97 of the New England Patriots during the first half at Gillette Stadium on Sept. 21, 2025 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jaiden Tripi/Getty Images)
O’Connell knows this first-hand, as a player and a coach, which is why some of us were surprised when he told his friend Rodgers that the Vikings felt strongly that McCarthy was the answer. He was bound to run into challenges, though to be fair, with the regular-season opener on the doorstep, they traded backup Sam Howell to Philadelphia and signed idled free agent Wentz.
This game is no longer about Rodgers, it’s about Wentz.
O’Connell, a celebrated quarterback whisperer, righted Darnold’s floundering career. Can he help Wentz, the No. 2 pick in the 2016 draft, win the Super Bowl stolen from him by a late knee injury in 2019?
That’s what matters now. Rodgers has a rare chance to show a team, and a friend, on the other sideline that they made a mistake by not accepting his help. But if Wentz can do it again on Sunday, the storyline in Minnesota will be quarterback controversy.
That’s generally a problem for any football team, but for the Vikings, it would be a good problem to have.
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