J.J. McCarthy has played eight quarters in the NFL. Seven of them have been bad.
The Vikings’ fourth-quarter comeback in Week 1 was fun, but it masked the other problems that were evident from McCarthy and the offense. The McCarthy we saw from the first three quarters in the opener against the Bears showed up in Week 2. He struggled to complete passes and keep drives going. This time there was no fantastic fourth quarter rally to save the win.
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The Falcons didn’t play well on offense either but they didn’t have to. A deluge of field goals was enough for a 22-6 win against the Vikings, who had a miserable night on offense. McCarthy completed 11 of 21 passes for 158 yards, two interceptions and a fumble lost. The Vikings didn’t score a touchdown.
What looked like a fun Sunday night matchup between second-year quarterbacks Michael Penix Jr. and McCarthy was mostly a slog. It was a lesson that playing quarterback can still be a big challenge in a QB’s first few career starts.
The Falcons’ win was far from an instant classic. But at least it was a win for them. The Vikings have to worry that McCarthy is far behind the curve, and one good quarter didn’t erase that.
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Vikings stall in 1st half
McCarthy apparently isn’t a fast starter.
For the second straight week, the Vikings’ offense was poor in the first half. As he did in the opener, McCarthy threw an interception. However, the one he threw late in the first half against the Falcons wasn’t returned for a touchdown, like his pick last week against the Bears.
McCarthy was not good through three quarters of the Vikings’ Week 1 game. That was forgotten when McCarthy came alive in the fourth quarter and led the Vikings to a win, but the first half Sunday night was another troubling sign for McCarthy. He took five sacks in the first half against a team that has in recent seasons had one of the worst pass rushes in the NFL. He also bobbled a snap on a sneak on fourth-and-inches and was stopped short of the first down. McCarthy finally hit one big play, a 50-yard gain to Justin Jefferson with two seconds left to set up a field goal. The Falcons led 9-6 at halftime.
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Minnesota’s defense, as was the case last week, kept the Vikings in the game. The home crowd helped too, disrupting the Falcons on their first drive and helping them settle for a field goal. The Falcons couldn’t get in the end zone and Drake London lost a fumble that took more points off the board. Even after the Falcons’ interception off McCarthy in Minnesota territory, all Atlanta could get out of it was a field goal.
It wasn’t a pretty first half for Minnesota. The only good news was that Penix didn’t do more for the Falcons to open up a big lead. Minnesota couldn’t take advantage, as NBC probably saw its viewership numbers drop during an uneventful game.
Falcons pull away
The game didn’t pick up much in the third quarter. The Vikings’ offense continued to stall. The Falcons still were settling for field goals. Atlanta led 12-6 after three quarters.
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The Vikings had another turnover to start the fourth quarter, when Atlanta’s Zach Harrison came unblocked on a rush and hit McCarthy, causing a fumble that the Falcons recovered at the Vikings’ 38-yard line. The Falcons settled for yet another field goal, Parker Romo’s fifth of the night.
There were no signs of life from the Vikings’ offense. Minnesota’s run game didn’t do much to take pressure off of McCarthy. He didn’t look comfortable all night, either due to the pressure from the Falcons or not finding any receivers for meaningful completions. When Falcons running back Tyler Allgeier scored the game’s first touchdown with 3:22 left in the fourth quarter, it was officially a rout. At that point McCarthy had completed just nine passes and the Vikings had only 164 yards of offense.
The Vikings are 1-1, and still have time for McCarthy to improve as a passer. But it’s apparent a lot of improvement is needed.
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