The good news if you’re a Minnesota Vikings fans is that they have two weeks until their next game. Time to heal.
The bad news if you’re a Minnesota Vikings fan is that they have two weeks until their next game. Prepare to be inundated with non-stop chatter, speculation and hot takes about who the starting quarterback should be when the Philadelphia Eagles come to U.S. Bank Stadium on Oct. 19.
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J.J. McCarthy or Carson Wentz? Pick your gunslinger.
We know this after Wentz helped the Vikings pull off an unlikely comeback in London to beat the Cleveland Browns 21-17 on Sunday, pretty much saving Minnesota’s season: He ain’t going there.
Asked directly after the game whether he believes he has to prepare as if he’ll be the starting quarterback in two weeks, Wentz’s answer showed his veteran savviness and perhaps some lessons he’s learned along the way in a 10-year NFL career.
“I’ve done plenty of looking ahead in my life that I’m done doing that,” Wentz said. “I’m very much trying to live in the moment and appreciate the moment right now. So I’m going to enjoy this one, get healthy and see what happens.”
A conspiracy theorist would say Wentz said nothing to discourage the idea that he should be the starter over McCarthy, the franchise’s clear quarterback of the near future. There was no reason for him to do so.
In his three starts after McCarthy suffered a high-ankle sprain, Wentz has shown flashes of goodness, an experienced eye and a still-very-strong right arm. He’s clearly more comfortable reading defenses and deciphering coverages than McCarthy, which only stands to reason. Wentz has been around the block, maybe twice, while the second-year rookie McCarthy is leaving the driveway.
And while Wentz has also exhibited some shortcomings – there still at times seems to be a willingness to hold the ball too long and not let ‘er rip – it must be remembered that he’s playing behind an offensive line that Sunday was missing four starters.
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Yes, Sunday’s game-winning drive came with a line made up of backups, rookies and castoffs — some of whom were playing out of position. There isn’t enough chicken wire, duct tape and Elmer’s glue in the world to fix what ails Minnesota’s offensive line.
Yet there was the former North Dakota State quarterback from Bismarck, leading the Vikings on a 10-play, 80-yard drive in the final 3:05. With his team down 17-14 and, frankly, whatever hopes it had for the season hanging by a thread, Wentz went 9 for 9 for 71 yards and no sacks. Included were a couple of gutsy bullets McCarthy likely wouldn’t have thrown.
His perfectly thrown 12-yard pass to Jordan Addison in the end zone for the game-winner kept the Vikings from an 0-2 European road trip and allowed them to fly across the Atlantic Ocean 3-2 instead of 2-3 with their most brutal portion of the schedule directly ahead.
Wentz did it after having to leave the game with a left shoulder injury late in the first half. He missed two plays, was declared questionable to return, had the shoulder checked at halftime and returned for the second half wearing a harness. Which was critical. The option was rookie Max Brosmer, who has as much NFL experience as your insurance agent.
Wentz showed grit, toughness and leadership, which superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson pointed out at his postgame press conference.
Wentz needed to show some trust in his head coach, too. Kevin O’Connell said postgame that the quarterback was having some reservations about the offensive line and protection he could expect to receive. The “Quarterback Whisperer” was doing some whispering. And Wentz was listening.
“It can be in the back of guy’s mind when he knows he has some young guys in there, against a (defensive) front like that,” O’Connell said. “I just told him to trust me. I just told him, ‘Let me worry about, as best I can, what’s happening up front and I’ll help where I can. I just want you to play fast, see it and throw it.”
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Wentz did that. When Addison nabbed his pass in the end zone with 25 seconds left, it set off a celebration on the Vikings sideline that is more often seen in a college game than among professionals.
There is a strong case for Wentz to return as the starter, even if McCarthy is fully healthy.
As was the case with the quarterback, the head coach wasn’t going there.
“I’m just excited we got the win today and we’re going to move forward in this bye and get as healthy as we can at all positions and attack this thing through the next few games,” O’Connell said.
Minnesota’s quarterback controversy is about hit hyper-speed.
Mike McFeely
Opinion by Mike McFeely
Mike McFeely is a columnist for The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. He began working for The Forum in the 1980s while he was a student studying journalism at Minnesota State University Moorhead. He's been with The Forum full time since 1990, minus a six-year hiatus when he hosted a local radio talk-show.
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