Vikings say goodnight to 2025 with warm moments, big questions
JJ McCarthy couldn't finish the game and two veterans (possibly) went out on top
By Matthew Coller
MINNEAPOLIS — Nothing quite says “walking into the great unknown future” like a potential Hall of Fame player having a ceremony to celebrate possibly his last game, the superstar wide receiver celebrating something that should have happened in Week 12 and the young quarterback ending his season prematurely due to his fifth injury in two years.
That was the scene at US Bank Stadium on Sunday. The Minnesota Vikings defeated the Green Bay Packers in a game where their rivals to the East elected to play all of their backups in order to prepare for the postseason and the Vikings really, really wanted to win.
When head coach Kevin O’Connell announced on Friday that JJ McCarthy would start the contest with no restrictions due to a fracture in his hand, it gave a tiny spark to a game with no playoff implications. Over his previous 2.5 starts, there were some signs of life amidst a season of disappointments for the second-year QB. One more bite at the apple opened up the door for McCarthy to leave a lasting impression and build confidence, even if it was like playing on Easy Mode.
But when McCarthy opened the game by doing two immature things on the same play (i.e. running directly into a defender and getting a taunting penalty) and then his accuracy came and went like someone tuning in and out of an AM radio station and then he elected to leave the game in the second half due to “throbbing” in his throwing hand, everyone was left with the same question that has persisted since August 2024: What is McCarthy, really?
If the Vikings had gone 9-8 and everyone had a good handle of the answer, you still could have made a case that the season was a mild success. Not a real success since Sam Darnold and Bo Nix won their conferences and Aaron Rodgers made the playoffs but at least some silver lining type rationalizing. In this case, with less than 250 pass attempts to his name in 2025, that question now is going to be asked for another nine months until they play again.
Although, maybe the question is the answer, in this case.
After the game, O’Connell and McCarthy were both asked about the QB’s future. Both got around to the same response eventually, which was more or less, “I don’t know.”
O’Connell’s version went like this: “I think every year you’re coming back to build a team throughout the offseason, throughout the draft, throughout the leading in the training camp. I think he’s improved throughout the season. I think he’s grown like a lot of young quarterbacks do throughout the season. Today was his 10th start.”
“I can’t wait to work with him in the off season and absolutely look forward to the continued development and improvement. I’m excited about where he’s ending the season and know that there’s some things we can really dive into as a group and JJ myself. You know, I look forward to the challenge of being the best version of myself for not only JJ with this entire team for sure.”
Not exactly the “we found our franchise quarterback” type endorsement that we heard from O’Connell in August 2024.
McCarthy was asked specifically if he has done enough to prove he should be the starter next year. He responded:
“I feel like I have but at the end of the day they have their own opinion, they have their own perspective they see things different they hear things from different places. I just feel going into this offseason content with where I’m at because I feel like I know that they know who I am as an individual and the potential and the capability that this offense could have with me at the helm. But at the end of the day it’s all about the guys from here on out. If I’m here or if I’m not, I love every single one of those guys and I had a freaking blast.”
It’s unfair to pick apart a postgame quote line by line but there’s some eyebrow raising stuff in there. McCarthy finishes the season with a 57.6% completion percentage, 6.7 yards per attempt, 11 TD, 12 INT, 27 times sacked and a 72.6 quarterback rating. It’s very hard to make a case that that’s “doing enough.”
Maybe it was just in the flow of the answer that he said “if I’m here or if I’m not” but usually QBs who feel like they are The Guy going forward don’t often leave the door open like that.
Of course, this exercise in read-between-the-lines doesn’t really take this much investigation since the production and injuries have added up to the point that nobody could believe the franchise will go forward with him locked in as the starting QB.
The list of potential options is vast and will tell us everything about the level of interest that the team has in going forward with him. If final impressions mean more than first impressions in the NFL, the search is likely to begin immediately.
McCarthy was able to accomplish one box that severely needed to be checked: Justin Jefferson going over 1,000 yards. He opened the game with a deep in-breaking route that ate up about half of the needed 53 yards to get Jefferson to 1,000 and ultimately got him over that plateau before the end of the half.
“He should never he should ever play a season for the Minnesota Vikings and not get to those numbers,” O’Connell said.
Jefferson was happy to reach the 1,000-yard mark, but did not shy away from the disappointment of the season. He said that he is going to work in the offseason with the focus on reminding people next year that he is still the best wide receiver in the NFL.
“It felt great to get that accolade and go into the offseason with a good taste in my mouth,” Jefferson said. “It’s onto more work, onto getting my youngin [McCarthy] right, making sure we don’t have the same outcome next season.”
He’s aware that he can only do that if the QB performs up to snuff. When pressed about McCarthy’s future, Jefferson reiterated that he isn’t in control of decisions at QB but reminded everyone of McCarthy’s age.
“He’s still young, he still has time to blossom as a quarterback,” Jefferson said.
It seems Jefferson is going to do all he can to tilt the odds of McCarthy’s success in the Vikings’ favor.
The juxtaposition between more McCarthy injury drama and the celebration of CJ Ham and Harrison Smith’s potential final two games was stark. At the same time that onlookers were sitting in angst over what is next at QB, they were hit right in the feels by the idea of this being the last ride for Ham and Smith. They were reminded of the last decade of football that has seen great players come and go without ever feeling like they had the QB to put players like Smith into the limelight. And here they were, honoring him in the noon slot with CBS’s 9th string broadcast team.
None of that is to take away from how special the moments were.
When the Vikings reached the goal line, O’Connell dialed up a touchdown run for Ham.
With about three minutes left in the game, the referee announced that the game was being stopped for Smith, something that O’Connell set up before the game. They showed him on the video board, teammates went crazy as did US Bank Stadium. And then CJ Ham got a similar treatment on the sideline with teammates surrounding him as well.
The head coach aimed to make both players feel appreciated in their possibly final games.
“I wanted to make sure that it was a memorable final game if it ends up being the case for Harrison and C .J. Ham,” O’Connell said. “Two players that, as a young head coach in this league, to have two players like that on the first team that you get a chance to be a head coach, they matter. They are tremendous human beings. They’re great football players. And ones that this organization should celebrate a lot longer than just today.”
Smith did his postgame press conference still in his full uniform because he had been taking pictures with his family out on the field and breathing in NFL air for a few more moments. Asked if it was surreal…
“Everything about this profession is surreal,” he said.
Smith had high praise for Ham postgame as well.
“He’s an all-timer, he’s such a good dude, such a good teammate and player,” Smith said. “He did so much in his career that oftentimes can go without being celebrated…he needs more people to recognize how phenomenal he’s been as a player.”
The funny thing about Smith and Ham going out (maybe!) together is that they are quite different with Smith being a superstar every-down player and Ham being an underrated grinder but they have a lot of things in common that endears them to coaches and teammates. Neither has ever giving anything less than everything to the Minnesota Vikings.
You don’t find that very often in sports anymore. You don’t get many chances to truly celebrate it the right way either.
In the end, the Vikings walked out of US Bank Stadium and into an uncertain future that feels too familiar. There were a lot of smiles and hugs and appreciation for a locker room that survived a 4-8 start to win the final five games. There was a melancholy part of it, knowing that it hadn’t been what was expected or promised when they popped the first pads in August and knowing that you never get another chance to make it right in the NFL, you only move forward. And that they will.
I have pretty much supported the philosophy of letting McCarthy’s development play out. But I must admit, as I watched the game yesterday a pesky voice inside my head kept saying, “no.” Prove me wrong, JJ…
It did not seem ambiguous in Ham's locker room statement. He's decided 'it's time.' Thanks CJ. I think they will do something substantial at QB. JJ will be the backup next year.