The J.J. McCarthy roller coaster continues to barrel down the tracks for another week, this time with a home clash against the Chicago Bears.
This is, of course, the same Chicago Bears that started McCarthy’s “Jekyll and Hyde” performance. McCarthy has had several low moments this season, but the first three quarters in Chicago were his rock bottom. Then, in the final 15 minutes, “Nine” made his first appearance and stunned the home crowd at Soldier Field with three touchdowns.
Fast forward to today, and we’ve continued to bounce up and down with little rhyme or reason. From the peak of McCarthy’s fourth-quarter comeback against the Bears came a cratering performance against the Atlanta Falcons. From the injury-related trench that spawned “soft benching” conspiracies came a massive road win over the Detroit Lions with several really impressive clutch plays by McCarthy. Now we’re dealing with another disappointing performance against the Baltimore Ravens, the chorus of doubters echoing ever louder, and this fanbase’s patience is wearing thin.
We’ve seen good moments from J.J. McCarthy. We’ve seen throws that highlight why this organization drafted him, or why they felt confident enough in him to move forward with him as their starter. There have also been many things we’ve yet to see, particularly a full 60 minutes of clean football.
Even in the two divisional matchups where McCarthy had shone his brightest, he’s done so in fits and starts. The offense has had long, multi-quarter stretches in which it cannot move the ball, and the flashes of potential we’ve seen don’t entirely overshadow that. If not for a spectacular defensive effort to keep them in the game against Chicago or stave off the comeback attempt by Detroit, then McCarthy would likely be 0-4 as a starter instead of 2-2.
The Vikings have been a mediocre football team for most of the year, and quarterback inconsistency has been a major reason. You simply can’t be as inconsistent as Minnesota has been on offense and expect to win games, especially with Ben Johnson and his Bears coming to town for revenge.
If there’s one thing the Bears have shown this season, it’s that they can beat mediocre, inconsistent football teams.
The Bears have taken advantage of their last-place schedule to great success. They’ve stacked wins against the Dallas Cowboys, Las Vegas Raiders, Washington Commanders, New Orleans Saints, Cincinnati Bengals, and New York Giants. Those teams have a combined record of 14-39, and none have more than three wins this season.
However, here’s the problem: Can we confidently say Minnesota is substantially better than those teams?
At their peak? Sure. But peak play has proven so elusive for this Vikings team that I question whether it’s accurate to judge them by their peak. At a certain point, even with all the talented pieces on this roster, maybe they just are who their record says they are. And that’s a team one win better than any of those teams Chicago has beaten.
That’s what this team could devolve into. The 14-win squad that came into the season with playoff aspirations may be well in the rearview mirror. Still, if McCarthy can’t put together a functional offense, then they may just keep spiraling down the drain with the dregs of the league. The kind of teams that lose to Chicago on last-minute heroics, rather than the other way around.
Unfortunately, this roster may not be good enough to win without J.J. McCarthy playing well. Aaron Jones has another injury to monitor, and Minnesota’s running game, with or without him, hasn’t been successful enough to lean on consistently. The defense has had its own ups and downs and doesn’t have the personnel in the secondary or the defensive interior to shut down quality offenses for a full game.
Even the offensive superstars on this team, Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, can only do so much if McCarthy can’t execute. We saw that against Baltimore as Jefferson spiraled into one of his worst games as a pro.
Fortunately, McCarthy won’t be playing the proverbial ‘85 Bears at home this weekend. There might be an opportunity for a get-right game for McCarthy, but we need to see more. I don’t think I’m content with just a few nice flashes. I need to see down-to-down, drive-to-drive consistency from McCarthy before I start taking this team seriously. I’m not asking for perfection by any stretch, but I am looking for a performance where the offense doesn’t completely sputter out for large stretches of the game.
This team’s expectations are hanging by a thread. They’re a loss or two away from fans loading up their draft sims and dreaming about next offseason, which is certainly not where they thought they’d be in mid-November. But if they truly believe that McCarthy is the right choice to be behind the wheel, then it’s time for him to steer into the skid and get things back on track.