After the first drive of the game, it seemed like Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy was on his way to putting together an impressive performance on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens.
In a drive that concluded with Vikings running back Aaron Jones scoring a four-yard rushing touchdown, McCarthy completed 3-of-4 pass attempts for 76 yards, including an impressive connection with Minnesota wide receiver Jalen Nailor that resulted in a 61-yard gain.
But that first drive turned out to be an outlier when compared to how McCarthy played in the rest of the contest. After that opening drive, the Vikings' second-year quarterback only completed 17-of-38 passes (44.7 percent) for 172 yards (4.5 yards per attempt), one touchdown, and two interceptions.
How will Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy respond after underwhelming performance in Week 10 loss to Baltimore Ravens?
We should expect the typical talking heads to come out with their "scorching" hot takes during the next handful of days about how McCarthy is one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL this season (blah, blah, blah).
But he also had plenty of moments in Sunday's loss to the Ravens that should give Minnesota fans a number of reasons to still believe that he can develop into the quarterback that many believe he is capable of becoming.
That 61-yard connection to Nailor, which we mentioned earlier, began with McCarthy dropping a beautiful dime right into the breadbasket of his receiver.
The two also connected in the fourth quarter for an impressive touchdown after the Minnesota quarterback threw the ball into the back corner of the end zone, where only Nailor could be the one to come down with it.
Then, of course, McCarthy threw a pair of interceptions on deep attempts to Justin Jefferson down the field. One came on a 3rd-and-1 play in the second quarter (that's a whole different can of worms), and the other happened after Jefferson fell down while running his route.
Would the Vikings rather McCarthy not throw interceptions? Of course, but were the results of both plays entirely on the shoulders of the young quarterback? Absolutely not.
McCarthy also looked more comfortable in the pocket against Baltimore than he has all season long. He was only sacked once, and he used his legs multiple times to evade pressure and scramble for positive yards.
The good thing for Minnesota is, the last time McCarthy had a game where he turned the ball over multiple times (Week 2 against the Atlanta Falcons), his next start resulted in a performance that helped the Vikings get a win over a heavily favored Detroit Lions team.
Minnesota will be hoping for something similar from its young quarterback when the team returns to the field inside U.S. Bank Stadium next Sunday for a big Week 11 showdown against the 6-3 Chicago Bears.