The Vikings are in trouble. Not just for their season, which effectively got flushed down the drain with a 19-17 loss to the Bears on Sunday — but their future is suddenly looking very bleak at the QB position. J.J. McCarthy didn’t just have a bad game by his standards. It was an awful affair both in terms of the box score, but more alarming how McCarthy played the game.
It’s foolish to look at the score and assume McCarthy played “okay,” simply because he managed to keep the game close and throw a touchdown in the fourth quarter. That’s a trait to be fair, and we’ll discuss that later — but the Vikings passing attack was marred by inaccuracy, poor decision making, and throws that might work in college, but simply don’t in the NFL. It wasn’t until late in the game that the Minnesota QB passed the 100 yard mark in passing, and up until the fourth quarter his stat like was a terrifying 10-for-20, 76 yards, and 2 interceptions.
That shouldn’t happen when you have receivers the caliber of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. It shouldn’t happen when you’re facing a Bears defense that’s 26th against the pass this season. It just shouldn’t happen at all.
Evaluating a young quarterback is far more about recognizing traits than resting laurels on wins, losses, or even what the box score shows. In fact, Bears-Vikings is a lesson in box score betrayal. It might be easy to look at the games of Caleb Williams and J.J. McCarthy and see only 43 yards difference in passing, equal completion and think “they were about equal,” but they absolutely were not — and it’s here the traits come in.
Williams was blitzed up and down the field by a phenomenal defensive scheme from Brian Flores of the Vikings. It was designed to throw as many stunts and mix-ups at him as possible, not only making it difficult for Williams to recognize where the pressure was coming from pre-snap, but make life a nightmare for an offensive line trying to pick up rushers. Nobody is saying Williams had a good day throwing the football, because he was incredibly mediocre — but what he displayed was unicorn levels of pass rush escape. The second-year quarterback used his athleticism and feel for the game to escape pressure, roll out when needed, and make something out of nothing on a lot of occasions.
That kind of off-platform throwing is something you can build off. There will be ups and downs along the way, and Williams needs to become better at recognizing where the pressure is coming from pre-snap — but that can be taught.
Now we get to J.J. McCarthy, and it’s difficult to know where to begin. This season has turned into an exercise in getting as many reps for McCarthy as possible, to build his rapport with the Vikings receivers, and hopefully take a step forward. The major concern that I have for McCarthy after watching that game is his feel for being a quarterback. It’s as if he only has one accurate, consistent throw in his toolbox which is a rifled pass close to the middle of the field, or near to the hashes.
If we look at throws which could have netted positive air yards it really tells the story here.
Left: 2-for-8, 21 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Middle: 8-for-13, 85 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT
Right: 2-for-6, 22 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT
When McCarthy is able to throw his signature fastball things look good. When that throw is the best for the down and distance he can make plays. However, when he’s needed to show some touch on deep passes things get bad.
It’s not the fact he put the ball where only the trainer can get it, it’s the whole process behind this throw. The footwork in the drop is messy. McCarthy does a good job stepping into his throw, but his throwing motion is ponderously slow, with a significant wind up. That results in the throw coming out late, with no anticipation, with too much power on it, causing it to sail.
The game was moving too quickly for McCarthy out there. The processing wasn’t there, the decision making wasn’t there, and this resulted in too many throws that never had a chance to gain yards after the catch, because they were being fired in right at the point of contact.
Richard Sherman started a furor on Twitter when he asked a fairly simple question, but one that was unfair under the circumstances and based purely on hindsight.
Moving on from Darnold wasn’t an easy decision, but it made a ton of sense. The Vikings had to decide between using all their cap space on re-signing Darnold, or having flexibility for the rest of the team — and this came after they drafted McCarthy. Furthermore, this is an organization trying to exorcise the ghosts of Kirk Cousins, who put up mammoth regular season numbers and tended to vanish in the playoffs. They saw that happen with Darnold in 2024, and it spooked them.
The real problem isn’t making the QB change, but perhaps who this team has put their faith in. Minnesota really went all-in on the trade up for McCarthy to be the future, and the next six weeks will go a long way in determining whether or not they made the right call, or need to go in a bad direction. Fans of the Vikings better pray McCarthy is able to look better down the stretch, because the possibility that Minnesota ends up with a Top 10 pick in a QB-heavy draft is very real.
If McCarthy looks sub-par it could be a hell scenario for a team with a lot of work to do in the offseason,
Now let’s look around the rest of the NFL for the winners and losers this week.
Winner: Bryce Young whenever he plays the Falcons
Last week Bryce Young was a total mess against the Saints, but boy does he have the number of another NFC South rival. Young was on fire against Atlanta to not only have the best game of his career, but set a franchise record for the Carolina Panthers for most passing yards in a game with 448 — surpassing Cam Newton’s record.
This was the first time in Young’s career it looked like the Panthers took the training wheels off the offense. There were throws Young was making we just haven’t seen before, and it was clear head coach Dave Canales made adjustments to the offense to give Young more freedom to throw deep — and he rewarded them for it.
Carolina is very much in the playoff hunt because of Bryce Young. It was an afternoon where Atlanta had the run came completely locked down to where Rico Dowdle was a non-factor, and the QB led this team to a win anyway. Throwing passes to nine different receivers, looking in total command of the offense, it’s clear that if the Panthers can block for him there’s going to be good output on the other end.
Winner: Ben Johnson
Do the Bears have a comically easy schedule? Yes. Are they winning convincingly? No. Does any of this matter because winning three in a row has been a rarity in Chicago? You bet your ass.
The Bears are soaring at 7-3 and right now have a lock on a playoff spot. Things are set to get much more difficult with two games against the Packers, the Eagles, and Lions left on the schedule — but things still look good for Johnson’s team.
The biggest shift has been in accepting outcomes. The Bears of the past would have thrown up their hands while behind and just coasted to the finish, but Johnson has added an element of fight that Chicago hasn’t had in the past. Realistically this team still needs more pieces on defense and the offensive line to truly become a force, but the building blocks are there.
Winner: The Broncos
Talk about a statement. I know that beating the Chiefs in their current form isn’t exactly anything to have a ticker tape parade over, but cementing themselves atop of the AFC West and doing serious damage to the Chiefs’ playoff chances is something built into the DNA of the Broncos, and they’re back there.
The AFC is weak enough that Kansas City could still find a way in, but this loss makes every game a must-win, while the Chargers dropping another game means it’s close to a lock for the Broncos to make the playoffs. That is a very good Sunday for Sean Payton’s team.
Loser: Shedeur Sanders
I don’t want to dump too much on a rookie depth QB thrust into a game when they’re not ready, but my God man. Suddenly Kevin Stefanski looks like a saint for not throwing Sanders into competition too early and making him embarrass himself.
Everything moved too quickly for him. At no point did he look in command of the offense, and on the interception the Ravens basically dared him to make a throw with completely open coverage — and it seemed like Sanders had no idea where to go with the ball.
On the plus side for Cleveland: They can now take a QB with a high pick in 2026 and have no reservations about it.
Loser: Sam Darnold
It’s been a fairy tale season for the Seahawks QB, and in early November he turned into a pumpkin against the Rams. Darnold’s four interception day didn’t do much to assuage worries that he’s a good QB, but not a good big-game QB.
The Rams absolutely had Seattle’s number and proved they’re the class of the NFC West. I think things will still be fine for the Seahawks, because they’re still 7-3 — but the worry has to be creeping in about the ceiling of this team.
