The numbers aren’t pretty for quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who ranks dead last in the NFL with a 52.9 completion rate.
The tape is even uglier when seeing how often McCarthy is missing players running wide open down the field.
Some of those struggles were illuminated by former NFL quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan last week via The QB School as he did a deep dive on McCarthy’s performance in the 27-19 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
It was more of the same this week, as O’Sullivan provided an equally lengthy film review of McCarthy’s performance in the 19-17 loss to the Chicago Bears.
Though he wasn’t nearly as negative as some of the rhetoric circulating on social media, O’Sullivan still has issues with the way McCarthy currently plays the position.
“It doesn’t look easy,” O’Sullivan said. “He’s making things harder on himself.”
Here are some of the highlights from the most recent breakdown via The QB School:
The leg whip
The first thing O’Sullivan brought up was the leg whip during McCarthy’s follow through. It presented itself on the first throw of the game, when McCarthy completed a pass to Adam Thielen to move the chains.
“He can rip it,” O’Sullivan said. “It’s just going to be really hard for most people to be consistent with that kind of lower half action.”
O’Sullivan noted how McCarthy’s mechanics are much more linear than rotational. In other words, McCarthy seems to generate his power by shifting his weight toward intended target rather than turning his hips while rooted in the ground.
That motion was also evident on the most egregious miss of the game, when McCarthy sailed star receiver Justin Jefferson with a ball that looked like it was about 10 feet over Jefferson’s head. As he rewound the play multiple times, O’Sullivan seemed genuinely shocked by how badly McCarthy missed Jefferson.
“That’s going to struggle to hit water falling out of a boat,” O’Sullivan said. “That’s thing is way out of there.”
The common thread for O’Sullivan in both of those misfires was the leg whip during McCarthy’s follow through.
“You just don’t see a lot of guys with that kind of follow through like that anymore,” O’Sullivan said. “He’s just so linear at getting that back hip through like a damn pitcher.”
It’s worth noting the leg whip during McCarthy’s follow through was also on display in the final minute of the game, when he threw strike to receiver Jordan Addison for a touchdown. It’s not ideal. It’s also not disqualifying — as long as he finds a way to control it.
“This is a hell of a strike,” O’Sullivan said. “Is this my favorite way to throw this from the lower half? No. Is it really hard to be consistent as a thrower with somebody who consistently does that? Yep. That’s still a big time throw.”
The ball trajectory
The first miss came on the opening drive, when McCarthy underthrew Addison deep down the field.
It would’ve gone for a big gain had McCarthy put a little bit more on it. Instead, he threw it on more of a line, and it went down as a missed opportunity.
The part that seemed to frustrate O’Sullivan more than the ball trajectory, however, was that McCarthy didn’t rip it to Jefferson on the deep crosser over the middle. Though it wasn’t necessarily wrong to go to Addison, it would’ve been easier to go to Jefferson.
“Just throw it to the (expletive) best player,” O’Sullivan said. “This is not even hard.”
The struggles with the ball trajectory also popped up for McCarthy on the incompletion to Aaron Jones in the end zone, then on the incompletion to tight end T.J. Hockenson near the sideline with nobody around him.
“A little touch makes it much easier,” O’Sullivan said. “We’ve had a couple of opportunities for plays down the field and the balls have been flat.”
It was a similar story on the interception McCarthy threw to Addison in the end zone. There wasn’t enough air on the ball, which, in turn, allowed cornerback Nahshon Wright to rise up for the interception.
“This ball is flat and behind us,” O’Sullivan said. “That’s a terrible pick.”
After watching the play back a few times, O’Sullivan added that the ball to Addison probably should’ve gone to receiver Jalen Nailor, who was running wide open in the intermediate part of the field
“I think it’s probably a poor read,” O’Sullivan said. “For whatever reason, things appear, to him, as covered when they’re not.”
The pocket movement
A pretty good throw by McCarthy early in the game went down as an incompletion because Addison dropped the ball.
As critical as O’Sullivan was of the drop, he was also critical of the pocket movement from McCarthy. He needlessly steps up into the pocket without pressure around him.
The decision to do that messed with the timing of the play itself. It caused McCarthy to be late on the throw, and while it should’ve been caught by Addison, it could’ve been better executed prior to the release.
“It’s not played on time,” O’Sullivan said. “It’s unfortunate. I don’t think he played it well. I think he played it better than that drop, though, that’s for sure.”
There was a completion from McCarthy to Jefferson later in the game on which the pocket movement needed to be better. Never mind that there’s no pressure around McCarthy. He still aggressively climbs up a half a step.
Chicago Bears safety Kevin Byard III (31) intercepts a Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) pass to wide receiver Justin Jefferson (18) from in the second quarter of an NFL football game at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
“It feels like he has a tendency to make things harder on himself than he has to,” O’Sullivan said. “Not that this is an easy throw. It just looks like he’s thinking about making a violent movement when he doesn’t have to. Just sit right there and throw it.”
Maybe the most glaring example of the pocket movement continuing to plague McCarthy came on his interception on a pass intended for Jefferson. He put himself in danger by up stepping up into pressure. It results in him getting hit while throws, which, in turn, made life easy for safety Kevin Byard III to swoop in for an interception.
“There’s nobody close to him,” O’Sullivan said. “Just stay back there and throw the ball.”
Interestingly, as he concluded the film review, O’Sullivan tried to downplay some of the struggles with McCarthy’s mechanics. The man who last week called it a “floating dumpster fire” decided this week to pour water on the flames.
“Has it been good? No it hasn’t been good,” O’Sullivan said. “Has it been like we’re going to torch the place and start over? No I don’t think so either.”
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