Vikings Have Already Made the QB Choice for Week 4
Just like we all expected when the Minnesota Vikings entered training camp, Carson Wentz led the squad onto the field in Week 3 of the season. J.J. McCarthy is sidelined with an ankle sprain, and the veteran, who was sitting on the couch a month ago, had to take over.
Vikings Have Already Made the QB Choice for Week 4
In his first start for his childhood team, Wentz didn’t do anything special on the surface level, but what he did was execute the previously broken offense at a solid level to put the team in a position to carve out a nice lead early on. He also didn’t make any game-changing mistakes. The worst critiques were probably him running into a couple of sacks, and that’s still on the acceptable side, especially for a backup.
Wentz said after the game, “Did I play a perfect game? By no means. There’s definitely plays I want back. Took a couple sacks, I can’t be doing that. So there’s still a lot to learn. But anytime you come away with a win like that — it’s hard to win in this league, so it’s fun to get them when you can.”
Ultimately, Wentz handed the keys to backup Max Brosmer to start the fourth quarter, having registered 173 passing yards and two touchdowns in a turnover-less game.
His new mentor, Kevin O’Connell, revealed in his post-game presser that Wentz would be his QB1 in Week 4. “He’ll get another opportunity,” O’Connell claimed.
The upcoming contest will be an NFL premiere, playing in Dublin, Ireland, for the first time ever. On the other side will be an excellent defense with T.J. Watt leading the charge. Wentz is going to be under center for Minnesota as McCarthy keeps healing.
McCarthy, however, has responded well to the treatment, O’Connell noted. “He’s responded well to the early part of treatment, but for a young player, I want to make sure that he’s healthy, especially a guy with the movement skills he has. We’re gonna do right by him.”
It’s fair to suggest that doing right by McCarthy means not throwing him out there on an international surface with everyone watching, which is to say nothing of future Hall of Famer Watt getting after him when he’s not fully healthy.
After the Steelers bout, the Vikings face Myles Garrett and his Browns defense that has just beaten the Green Bay Packers and limited that offense to only ten points. Then, the bye week will take place, followed by the matchup against the defending Super Bowl champions. There’s no obvious comeback date for McCarthy.
Regardless, it’ll be Wentz for at least one more game. O’Connell praised his captain, saying he “played point guard” for his unit and that “he made great decisions, he got through his progressions, and did a lot of things to help the Minnesota Vikings win today.”
His veteran confidence helped him emerge from a cold stretch. The Vikings’ offense struggled after scoring the opening touchdown, managing only three points over a four-drive stretch. Three of those didn’t even log a first down.
The good news is that the former second-overall pick didn’t panic and guided his offense mistake-free through that period. Minnesota is built in a way that it’s not the end of the world to punt the ball and let Brian Flores’ group take care of business.
O’Connell shared that observation after the game, “I thought he gained confidence and settled down as the game went on. Really proud of him.”
In the fourth quarter, Brosmer was subbed in to primarily become a handoff machine. He completed two of four passes, and one could argue that the two incompletions were drops, including a wonderful strike to Adam Thielen. It’s surely helpful for the young passer that he can rely on a veteran like Wentz, whose intelligence was emphasized by O’Connell.
“He’s so smart. Has an understanding of exactly who he is as a player at this point. When you go back over the timeline, when he’s been given really good opportunity, normally he’s played really good football. I’ve always been a fan of his. I told him when we took him out of the game, I was the least surprised person in the whole building today that he was able to go out there and effectively run our offense.”
If Sunday’s level of play is what Wentz can provide, the Vikings are in a good spot. That’s enough to win games if the defense is feasting. Something he might not always have understood in his career is that a signal-caller sometimes just needs to get the ball to his playmakers instead of scrambling around and trying to become one in his own right.
In Minnesota, he has the benefit of having some of those playmakers around. After the game, Wentz stated, “That’s what I want to do when I go out there. I don’t wanna be the one making the plays, I just wanna get it to these playmakers. That’s always been my philosophy. And we’ve got some good ones here.”
He connected with Justin Jefferson various times, who led the team in receiving. T.J. Hockenson and Jalen Nailor were also featured. Next week, throw Jordan Addison into the mix, too.
Wentz, 32, has returned to the Midwest, and next, he will lead the Vikings back to their European roots.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.