Back in Week 1, it took the Minnesota Vikings 10 offensive drives to score a touchdown with J.J. McCarthy as the team's starting quarterback. Against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, with Carson Wentz filling in under center for an injured McCarthy, the Vikings only needed one offensive drive to march down the field and score a touchdown.
Wentz's final numbers from Week 3 aren't going to earn him any awards (14-for-20, 173 pass yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions), but the offense seemed much more efficient with him in the starting lineup for Minnesota on Sunday.
In one game, Wentz has already led the Vikings' offense to more touchdown drives (four) than McCarthy did in the team's first two matchups combined (three). It's only a small sample size, but it's not something that should be ignored.
J.J. McCarthy is still QB1 for the Minnesota Vikings, but Carson Wentz added some pressure in Week 3
There are a variety of reasons why Minnesota's offense was able to be more successful in Week 3 with Wentz under center than it was with McCarthy as the starter in the team's first two games.
Some of it has to do with the Vikings' No. 2 quarterback having much more NFL in-game experience than the team's second-year signal-caller. At this point in his career, it's not difficult for Wentz to efficiently run an offense.
He's not the type of player who can put an entire organization on his back, but he's been in the league long enough to know what it takes to give his team the best chance to win each time he's on the field.
On Sunday, Wentz also had the benefit of Vikings left tackle Christian Darrisaw playing for the first time this season, and his presence made a tremendous difference.
McCarthy was constantly under pressure during his first two games this season, and one would like to think that wouldn't have been the case if Darrisaw was on the field in Week 1 and Week 2 as well.
Minnesota also finally leaned into its rushing attack against Cincinnati this weekend. The Vikings ran the ball 31 times for 169 yards on Sunday and Jordan Mason accounted for 116 of those yards. If Minnesota head coach Kevin O'Connell can continue to rely more on the team's rushing offense moving forward, then that is something that will also help McCarthy when he returns.
For what the Vikings currently need, Wentz is perfect. McCarthy is recovering from his ankle injury, and Minnesota just needs a quarterback who doesn't turn the ball over and can lead the offense on a few scoring drives per matchup.
Wentz didn't do enough on Sunday to create any sort of legitimate quarterback competition, and the Vikings' intentions are still to insert McCarthy back into the starting lineup when he's healthy enough to play, which is currently expected to be in Week 7 when Minnesota takes on the Philadelphia Eagles.
But if the Vikings win both of their next two games to head into their bye with a 4-1 record and Wentz puts up some impressive numbers in those victories, O'Connell is going to have a difficult decision to make.
Does he roll with the guy who is unbeaten as a starter, or is the starting job given back to McCarthy no matter what?