J.J. McCarthy Is the Gift That Keeps on Taking Away
It’s been quite the roller coaster of a time watching Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy play American Football this season. I don’t mean “roller coaster” in the traditional sense; I mean a roller coaster that looks a little something like this:
- Super-fast launch that’s amazing and pins you to your seat (Week 1 victory on Monday Night Football in Chicago)
- Roller coaster slows down, then comes to a complete halt (Week 2, then missing five games due to injury)
- Roller coaster then launches again just as fast as before (Week 9 victory in return from injury at Ford Field)
- Roller coaster then falls off the track (Week 10 through Week 13, struggles to provide competent QB play, then gets concussed)
- Roller coaster then launches again to a fast speed that’s fun for the whole family (Weeks 14 through halftime of Week 16)
Do you see what I’m getting at here?
J.J. McCarthy is Awesome Until He’s Not
The kid had put together a really impressive two weeks in Weeks 14 and 15. At least, by impressive, I mean for the standards he set in Weeks 10 through 12, where he was pretty much unwatchable. He strung together back-to-back wins against NFC East opponents, the Washington Commanders and Dallas Cowboys.
Against Washington, he put up 182 total yards (163 passing, 19 rushing) and three passing touchdowns. He didn’t really make many mistakes and managed a game in which the Vikings pitched a shutout by a score of 26-0.
The next week, Dallas was the victim. It was a 34-26 final on Sunday Night Football in which McCarthy racked up 265 total yards (250 passing, 15 rushing), three total touchdowns (two passing, one rushing), and threw an interception on his first pass attempt of the game after it was batted at the line.
He was very solid in these contests and breathed life into the dying faith that Vikings fans everywhere had begun to have weeks before. Both contests saw him have a passer rating of above 100, a feat he hadn’t surpassed to that point in his career.
Things were looking the same in the first half against the New York Giants. He started well, had a rushing touchdown, and was throwing the ball well. He did throw an interception, but it was a ball that bounced off the hands that Jalen Nailor had awaiting the toss.
Everything was looking great! And then what does he go and do? He gets hurt. Again.
J.J. McCarthy Gives a Christmas-Time Reminder That We Can’t Have Nice Things
Right as his play was becoming defensible, McCarthy exited the game against New York right before halftime with a hand injury.
I guess we shouldn’t be all too worried, given the reports to come out since the end of the contest.
Goodie! The problem is that the Vikings have a short week. Minnesota plays on Christmas Day against the Detroit Lions. It’s a literal do-or-die for the Motor City Kitties, and oh, the joy it would bring to the Twin Cities to dagger their season. Having your starting QB, who has already beaten the Lions this year, surely could help you do that.
It was already annoying to worry about McCarthy’s durability, but here we are again. According to Tyler Forness, this is the 5th diagnosed injury to J.J. McCarthy in 11 total games played, including preseason. To riff off of Tyler here, it’s technically closer to ten games, seeing as he didn’t play the entire preseason game against the Raiders in 2024, where he tore his meniscus, and he also only played half of the game in Week 16 against the Giants.
