The Vikings won in Dallas because of JJ McCarthy
The young quarterback had his first wire-to-wire excellent showing
By Matthew Coller
Following the Minnesota Vikings’ 34-26 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football, the young quarterback is now 4-4 as a starter with three of those wins coming against teams that are (or were) in the NFC playoff race. But Sunday night’s game was the first time that we can truly say that the Vikings came away with a victory because their quarterback played four quarters of winning football.
He threw for 250 yards, ran for a handful more including a touchdown. PFF credited him with four “big-time throws.” His only turnover came on a batted pass and he did not take a sack.
That’s some serious quarterbacking.
The most impressive drive of the night for McCarthy — and the one that best demonstrates the level at which he drove the team’s success — came late in the third quarter.
The Vikings’ defense had just gotten a stop and forced a field goal, which put the Cowboys up 23-17. Had the Vikings not responded, they could have been staring a two-score deficit in the face.
McCarthy’s first pass was a rocket launcher throw down the seam to TJ Hockenson for 29 yards. After an incompletion toward Justin Jefferson and back-to-back runs, they found themselves facing fourth-and-3 at the Dallas 37-yardline. O’Connell decided to go for it rather than taking a swing with Will Reichard’s golden leg.
McCarthy dropped back and lofted a ball up to receiver Jalen Nailor. The ball was in the air long enough for him to make an adjustment and he reached back and came down with it for a 23-yard gain.
His next throw was a slant to Jefferson to set up first-and-goal. From the 1-yard line, he hit Jefferson in the hands but the star receiver couldn’t bring the ball in, so they handed to CJ Ham, who did the Griddy instead. Still, it was a nice pass to a receiver who he’s struggled to connect with so far this season.
The Vikings did not give the lead back and McCarthy had another touchdown drive with three completions that was the dagger in the Cowboys’ season.
It’s not that we had never seen anything like this from the 2024 first-round pick. He had the comeback against the Chicago Bears in Week 1. He came back from injury with a 143-yard win over Detroit with a few very good plays and some chaotic moments that he got away with. He had a go-ahead drive late against Chicago at home. Last week he managed the game solidly versus a down-on-their-luck Washington Commanders squad.
All of those games left something to be desired, even if you could mark them down as progress. The games that did not go his way — Baltimore, Chicago and especially Green Bay — were so ugly that it left plenty of questions about why the Vikings went with him as the 2025 starter and whether he could be that guy going forward.
Sunday night’s game in Dallas was a reminder of why they believed in McCarthy and gave hope to the idea that he can be that guy going forward.
Because if the only way that they could win games with him was getting incredible defensive play and having him make a couple of clutch plays, that sounds more like what you would do with a backup quarterback than someone you’re looking to drive your franchise’s success in the toughest division in the NFL.
The fact that they were able to lean on him as Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason only combined for 22 carries for 53 yards and still come away with 34 points is a pretty significant development in the evaluation of McCarthy.
More on that momentarily but we do need to properly contextualize the performance. Entering the night, the Cowboys ranked 31st in passing yards allowed, 32nd in touchdown passes allowed, 31st in interceptions, 31st in passer rating and 31st in PFF coverage grade.
Not only that but the Vikings’ offensive line was nothing short of spectacular against a defensive line that is 18th in sacks. Per NFLNextGen, on drop-backs longer than 2.5 seconds, McCarthy completed 10 of 14 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown, producing positive EPA for the first time in his career.
He was able to stand confidently in the pocket and deliver without any sort of duress all night long. Usually when that happens, good things follow for most quarterbacks.
But this was a game where he had the pressure of needing to score. While the defense did a good job of coming up clutch and holding Dallas to 2-for-12 on third downs, they were still putting up points. It wasn’t like the Washington game where he could have done nothing and still won. There were plenty of spots where they needed to respond and he found a way.
The throws weren’t always the easiest either. His first touchdown to Nailor featured a rollout to his left and then a ball with enough air underneath it to give the receiver a chance to make a nice play on it. The fourth down conversion was into tight coverage as well. His throw to Hockenson, while risky, was also not a gimme.
There were a few layups, like his 58-yard pass to Jordan Addison, who roasted his defender, but it wasn’t exactly a cruise.
What conclusions can we really have after a game like that?
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