Murphy: It's all about JJ from here
Brian Murphy writes that the rest of the season is about McCarthy's development
By Brian Murphy
Doyle Brunson famously said the key to no-limit Texas Hold ’Em is to put a man to a decision for all his money.
Close your eyes and envision Kevin O’Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah at the poker table, shoving every one of their purple and gold chips into the center and sweating out their massive bet on unproven J.J. McCarthy.
We’re on Fifth Street folks and the stakes couldn’t be higher for the Vikings’ brain trust and their still-developing but alarmingly underperforming prodigy. There’s no going back for head coach, general manager or franchise quarterback. No reserve line of credit to tap or new hand to play.
Everything is on the table for the next seven weeks. If you can holster your rage long enough, we should learn everything we need to know about McCarthy’s potential, KOC’s credibility as a miracle worker and Adofo-Mensah’s stewardship of Minnesota’s endless crusade for an everlasting quarterback.
The season’s lost, and the sooner you accept the Vikings’ 6-11 or 7-10 fate, the easier it will be to endure McCarthy’s inevitable growing pains or the harsh reality that he’s not NFL material. Drafting, developing and abiding by the process, postseason hopes be damned.
This is a referendum on the viability of this 22-year-old’s potential and a reckoning for the men who confidently told us McCarthy is the future despite proven commodities that were already in the building. That Kirk Cousins, Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones were reassuring stopgaps on the long journey to quarterback certainty this franchise has long coveted.
I’m all in, too. We need clarity. And we have to learn whether O’Connell and Adolfo-Mensah have the intestinal fortitude to not just preach that McCarthy is the solution but hold the line on growing anxiety for radical change and hold up the walls rapidly closing in on them.
Benching McCarthy accomplishes nothing after the Vikings’ unsightly 19-17 loss to the Chicago Bears Sunday. They are 4-6 and regressing, nary a single complimentary performance among 10 glass-chewing games.
Undrafted Max Brosmer is neither carrying the Vikings to the playoffs nor is he solving their perennial problem at the game’s most vital position. It’s McCarthy warts and all. And only an alley rat can gnaw off one this hairy.
It is that ugly. Anyone who has watched McCarthy spray passes over and under open receivers, spew adrenaline from his eye sockets and hop around the pocket like it’s lava realize he is in completely over his head.
His 50-percent completion rate is hardening like concrete. McCarthy has yet to eclipse 200 passing yards in a game, with two more bad interceptions against the Bears tossed onto a smoldering pile of gaffes that is making it impossible for Minnesota’s offense to establish continuity or save the defense from exhaustion.
“I felt extremely prepared going into this game. I felt super dialed in physically,” McCarthy said, rather hollowly. “It’s just something I need to really figure out to make sure I keep this thing rolling for 60 minutes consistently,”
Granted, he’s still playing catchup for the practice reps, game starts and hard knocks knee and ankle injuries robbed from him the last 15 months. But competency and accuracy should not be this elusive.
For all his foibles there are glimpses of greatness that remind everyone why the national champion from Michigan was drafted 10th overall. McCarthy is a gamer to be sure. He just can’t play a complete game.
Five consecutive completions late in the fourth quarter culminated with a laser of a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Addison to flip a 13-point deficit into a one-point lead with 50 seconds remaining.
Naturally, a special-teams breakdown led to a 48-yard kick return that set up Chicago for the walk-off field goal. If it’s not one thing with the 2025 Vikings it’s another.
The defense played splendidly, mostly containing Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, who was nine picks ahead of McCarthy last year but is light years ahead in development under new head coach Ben Johnson.
If only it could steal a possession or two. For the fifth time this season the Vikings failed to generate a turnover. Their nine takeaways and three paltry interceptions make the unit a shadow of the league-leading ball hawks who wrecked opposing quarterbacks and took over games.
Which is neither here nor there.
Finishing outside the playoff picture is fine if McCarthy’s accumulating valuable scar tissue, building on each start and showing improvement over the continuum. Lest anyone forget fans and the locker room were sold a lemon about competing for an NFC North and conference championship while McCarthy progressed down the assembly line.
Salvaging the season is worthless compared to rehabilitating the team’s most valuable asset.
The Vikings cannot fold without blowing up the franchise and starting over yet again. It’s boom or bust with J.J.
Anything else is for suckers.