In a game where there were no stellar moments in the last quarter, Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy and the rest of the team’s offense faced a difficult 60 minutes, culminating in a 22-6 loss against the Atlanta Falcons.After the meeting, McCarthy’s performance revealed several realities for the Vikings, who started the season with high playoff expectations. Players and coaches agreed that the team’s overall performance around McCarthy needs to improve significantly.
Despite scoring 21 points in the final quarter in the Week 1 victory against the Chicago Bears, the Vikings only scored 12 points in the other seven quarters. McCarthy suffered nine sacks, including six on Sunday night. The Falcons intercepted two of his passes and forced three fumbles, losing one. His batted pass rate was 28.6%, one of the highest in Week 2 among qualified quarterbacks.In his first two NFL starts, McCarthy completed 24 of 41 passes for 301 yards, with 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. In addition, he ran seven times for 50 yards and a touchdown, but his QBR of 20.4 places him 32nd out of 33 qualified quarterbacks in the league.This will be a process for our team. Our young quarterback will make incredible plays, but he will also have failed attempts. We are learning on the go, and to overcome this, the execution of the entire group must reach a standard that allows us to compete and win.
Kevin O’Connell
McCarthy played a large part of the game behind an improvised offensive line, following the concussion exits of Ryan Kelly and Justin Skule. The Falcons pressured McCarthy on 36.7% of his passing plays, but his average time before throwing was 3.35 seconds, the highest in the NFL in Week 2.The Vikings’ five lost fumbles tie for the NFL lead, and their 30.4% third-down conversion rate ranks 29th in the league. This has resulted in the Vikings’ lowest plays per game average (47.5), limiting McCarthy’s development opportunities.On Sunday night was only the fourth time McCarthy has lost a game since his sophomore year of high school. His record in that period is 64-4. For this reason, the players in the locker room claim they have not lost confidence in him.We have a lot to do, and so do I. There are many things on display in this game. It’s great to be part of a great group where I know we are going to grow and learn together. There’s a lot of love in the locker room. It’s a long season, and I believe this is a journey.
J.J. McCarthy
He is made for this. That’s why they fell in love with him in the draft, and that’s why we all have so much confidence in him. It will be a process like every year. We keep working, learning from the good and the bad, and building every week.
Adam Thielen
