committed eight false starts<\/a> at U.S. Bank Stadium. On Sunday, a reliable target in Jordan Addison dropped a potentially game-altering throw on a third-and-7 over-the-middle attempt in the first quarter. He also couldn\u2019t haul in an open pass to the flat in the third quarter.<\/p>\n\u201cIf I make those types of plays,\u201d Addison said, \u201cwe win. No doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other pass catchers failed to help McCarthy. Tight end T.J. Hockenson had a throw slip through his hands. Receiver Adam Thielen couldn\u2019t corral a ball over the middle.<\/p>\n
The Vikings special teams unit had its own hand in the final result. Though rookie Myles Price set up the comeback with a 43-yard punt return in the fourth quarter, the special teams phase allowed a 56-yard return that set up the Bears\u2019 game-winning field goal.<\/p>\n
All of these plays speak to the nature of this 4-6 team. Any misstep next to the quarterback is magnified, and the stress of that razor-thin margin for error is tangible. That is especially true for a group of veteran players whose objective is to win now, rather than travel the journey of quarterback development with no guarantees.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody feels like it\u2019s difficult,\u201d Jefferson said. \u201cIt\u2019s not something that we\u2019re keeping under the rug or anything. Yes, it\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Writing off anybody with seven games left to play would be foolish. However, The Athletic\u2019s model only gives the Vikings a 3 percent chance of making the postseason.<\/p>\n
These circumstances punctuate what has been apparent for weeks. Next week\u2019s matchup with the Green Bay Packers, the ensuing week\u2019s game against the Seattle Seahawks and everything after that is about assessing McCarthy\u2019s progress.<\/p>\n
Can Minnesota get to a place where it trusts McCarthy to throw over the middle in unfavorable downs and distances? Right now, the bar to clear is far lower. It would suffice to arrive at a place where there is faith in McCarthy to accurately place the ball in rhythm.<\/p>\n
Even during Sunday\u2019s game, O\u2019Connell approached McCarthy on the sideline with reminders. He frequently used the phrase \u201cfeet and eyes,\u201d a coaching point designed to keep McCarthy focused on the process. The Vikings knew he\u2019d need to make some adjustments when they drafted him out of Michigan. He tended to overstride, causing consistency issues.<\/p>\n
Now, the variance is tied to his lack of balance within the clutter of the pocket. In the second quarter, Bears safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson blitzed off the edge, and although he wasn\u2019t close to McCarthy, the quarterback stepped up aggressively. He moved himself into a suboptimal spot, and his eventual throw was intercepted by Bears safety Kevin Byard III. McCarthy\u2019s second interception, which occurred with 42 seconds left in the first half, was the result of poor mechanics due to overrotation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve just learned that when he has great posture at the top of drops,\u201d O\u2019Connell said, \u201che throws the ball really well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The evidence existed before Sunday, and it re-emerged on the final drive. McCarthy orchestrated a 10-play, 85-yard touchdown drive. Perhaps as confounding as anything was a degree of composure that hadn\u2019t been present throughout the afternoon. McCarthy couldn\u2019t pinpoint any ingredient to the change, and his professional history doesn\u2019t suggest it\u2019ll carry over next week.<\/p>\n
Hoping for the best was much easier to do months ago. The role of these next seven games for the Vikings should be to assess McCarthy and ensure they enter the 2026 season with certainty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 The throw was inexcusable, and J.J. McCarthy knew as soon as the ball left his hand.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296377,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,8851,398,396,397,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-296376","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-minnesota-vikings","10":"tag-ncaa","11":"tag-ncaa-football","12":"tag-ncaafootball","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/296377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}