McCarthy Failing Badly As Vikings Appear Buried In NFC North Cellar

The joy of the 2024 season has given way to the pain and frustration of 2025. There are multiple reasons why the Vikings are sitting in last place in the NFC North division with a 4-6 record after their loss to the first-place Chicago Bears, but the biggest lies at the quarterback position.

Notice that it does not say that J.J. McCarthy is the problem. The Vikings starter has performed poorly in back-to-back home losses to the Ravens and Bears, but the bigger issues may be the opinions of general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell.

Both men were convinced that McCarthy would be ready to lead the Vikings and play winning football this season even though his rookie year was a washout because of the torn meniscus he suffered in the preseason.

McCarthy’s lack of accuracy and questionable decision-making was a big part of their loss to the Ravens and he was significantly worse in Sunday’s loss to the Bears. He came out mis-firing, overshooting Justin Jefferson, T.J. Hockenson and Jordan Addison on multiple passes. His velocity on those throws was not NFL-caliber. Some of his passes were too hard, other passes did not have enough touch.

The numbers were not good enough. McCarthy completed 16 of 32 passes for 150 yards with 1 TD and 2 interceptions.

There were other issues with the offense as well, and that included each member of the receiving crew. Jefferson, Addison, Hockenson and Adam Thielen combined for six crucial drops. When the quarterback is misfiring consistently, the receiving crew can’t drop the ball when he happens to come through with an accurate pass.

Jefferson tried to take some of the pressure off the quarterback with his postgame analysis of his own performance. “Everybody feels like it’s difficult,” Jefferson said. “It’s not something that we’re keeping under the rug or anything. Yes, it’s difficult. But as a team, as a captain, as a leader of this team, I have to be the first one out there. I have to be headfirst, leading us into that direction of winning, of being where we need to be.”

O’Connell may have to make a move at QB

O’Connell knows there is no babying of the quarterback at this point. The head coach has been building up McCarthy since he was selected with the No. 10 pick in the 2024 Draft and he has given him as much support as any young player could hope to receive. That approach has not worked out for the Vikings.

“I didn’t do my job,” McCarthy said after the 19-17 loss to the Bears. “It absolutely sucks and I have to do a better job. I am going to do everything I can to improve on that.”

O’Connell is thinking about making a change at QB1. He has already used veteran Carson Wentz in that role and now he is injured. If he is going to bench McCarthy, the next man up is rookie Max Brosmer.

Brosmer is an undrafted free agent out of Minnesota and O’Connell likes what he has seen so far. That means the Quarterback Whisperer thought Brosmer did enough this summer to make the team and has performed adequately as a scout team quarterback and in the backup role that there’s hope he may be able to do the job. That’s not a lot to base a promotion to the starting position.

The inability to connect with open receivers drained the Vikings of the energy that they demonstrated at the start of the game when both Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason had success running the football. The offensive line, which had been an issue in previous losses, was opening holes for the two running backs and giving McCarthy adequate time to survey the field and see open receivers. The shaky quarterback was not sacked once by the Bears.

He could not put the ball on the money until the final drive, and that’s when the Vikings nearly stole a win from the Bears. Chicago allowed McCarthy to drive the Vikings 85 yards in 10 plays and take a 17-16 lead when he connected with Addison on a 15-yard TD pass.

The Vikings left Bears QB Caleb Williams 50 seconds to move the team into field goal position. However, the elusive Williams did not have to do a thing. The Bears got a 56-yard kickoff return against Minnesota’s shoddy kickoff coverage, and Cairo Santos delivered the game-winning 48-yard field goal as time ran out.

The Vikings appear destined to finish out of the playoffs and possibly in last place in the division. There are seven games left for a turnaround, including a Week 12 encounter at Green Bay, but that game appears likely to end up as yet another loss in a brutally disappointing season.

McCarthy or the unlikely Brosmer would need a major step up in performance to avoid such a disaster. That’s what the Vikings are counting on but there is no evidence to believe it will happen any time soon.