For the glass-half-full crowd, one mesmerizing fourth quarter was enough for J.J. McCarthy to make Minnesota Vikings fans believe in their new franchise quarterback.
Unfortunately, the majority of Vikings fans are stuck on the other seven quarters of these first two games of the 2025 season — and for good reason.
McCarthy was brilliant in the fourth quarter of Minnesota’s Week 1 road win over the Chicago Bears. The 22-year-old led three furious touchdown drives to erase a two-score deficit and down an NFC North rival. And while those eight minutes need to be mentioned and highlighted in any discussion regarding the Vikings’ quarterback and offense as a whole, they stand as a clear outlier now two games into the 2025 season.
Minnesota’s other 18 offensive possessions are a major cause for concern. In nine of those drives — or 50% — the Vikings went three-and-out (including one turnover on downs). Three drives ended with interceptions, including one that was returned 74 yards for a touchdown against the Bears. Another drive ended in a strip-sack last week against the Atlanta Falcons.
McCarthy’s passer rating over those seven quarters is a woeful 37.76, with no touchdowns and four total turnovers. He was also sacked nine times over that span for a net loss of 47 yards.
Injuries to key starters like left tackle Christian Darrisaw and center Ryan Kelly have obviously played a major factor. Wide receiver Jordan Addison’s suspension and poor play from swing tackle Justin Skule and tight end T.J. Hockenson haven't helped, either.
But the numbers paint a troubling early-season picture for Minnesota’s offense, and we haven’t even mentioned one important stat that exposes the clear root of the problem.
Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell must fix this alarming trend on offense
The Sunday Night Football broadcast made it a point to showcase the quick release of Falcons quarterback Michael Penix last week, often using a timer graphic that showed a release time well under 3 seconds.
That graphic wouldn’t work for Kevin O’Connell’s Vikings. Per Alec Lewis of The Athletic, only one starting quarterback in the NFL has held the ball longer on drop-backs than McCarthy — and that’s Justin Fields of the New York Jets.
McCarthy will miss Minnesota’s Week 3 home game against the Cincinnati Bengals due to a high-ankle sprain, but when he’s cleared to return, it would behoove the Vikings to scheme up some easy throws to help their young quarterback find a rhythm earlier in games. Any easy completion would be an improvement at this point; the Vikings currently rank 32nd in the NFL with an average of 12.0 completions per game.
The good news for Vikings fans? This isn’t a McCarthy problem. As Lewis detailed, it’s a quirk in O’Connell’s offense that could use some tweaking over the next few weeks.
“The Vikings have only run three quick-game concepts thus far this season, according to Pro Football Focus, more than only the New York Jets and Chicago Bears. Pro Football Focus classifies quick game as “concepts with pass route breaks coming under 7 yards across the board.” Perhaps most telling is that the Vikings rank 32nd in quick-game attempts per game since the beginning of 2023 (2.7) and first in deep drop plays per game (30.7).”
On Tuesday, Vikings offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said the team has discussed installing more quick-game concepts this season, so change could be coming. It’s definitely something to watch as veteran Carson Wentz prepares to be Minnesota’s starter for at least the next couple of games.
There’s no sugar coating it. Minnesota’s offense has been awful over the balance of two games. The offensive line needs to jell and get healthy. The pass protection needs to improve. The quarterback needs to be more decisive. The turnovers and sacks cannot continue at their current rate.
All of these factors could benefit from a more consistent rushing attack — and more quick passes like screens and slants. On the latter, Vikings fans will just have to wait and see if O’Connell is willing to make (and stick to) those types of adjustments.