It’s fair to say that the Vikings guessed wrong at quarterback.
Just a year ago, Sam Darnold threw for 4,319 yards with 35 touchdowns and a passer rating of 102.5 to lift the Vikings to a 14-3 regular season record. All the purple happiness was replaced by purple sadness when the Rams blew out Minnesota 27-9 in the NFC Wild Card.
The Vikings let Darnold go to Seattle and he’s got a 105 passer rating as he has led the Seahawks to a 7-3 record in a very tough NFC West.
In Darnold’s place was J.J. McCarthy. He was who the Vikings took 10th overall in 2024. He came to Minnesota with a lot of promise after learning at the knee of Jim Harbaugh at Michigan.
However, after five NFL starts, McCarthy still doesn’t look sure of himself. He is shaky in the pocket and his accuracy is atrocious.
Transitioning to the Packers, I have heard so many people complain about Jordan Love and what kind of a quarterback he is. Granted, I thought he was the guy after the Steelers game, but clearly that isn’t the case. His footwork remains iffy and he still throws 50/50 balls when he doesn’t have to.
But the Packers are in a much better spot than the Vikings right now. Love has shown that he can be very good to great while McCarthy is still trying to keep his head above average. McCarthy’s best game as a pro was last week when he went 13-for-20 for 143 yards, two touchdowns, a pick and a passer rating of 98.5.
If the Vikings beat the Packers on Sunday, it will be in spite of McCarthy, not because of him. And Love has proven that the Packers can win because of him, which will be the case this week with Josh Jacobs likely sidelined.
The entire NFC North is separated by only three games with the Packers playing division games the rest of the way.
“Everybody’s kind of got similar records and we’ll be playing everybody here at the back half, so definitely some games we’re going to have to go out there and win,” Love said. “But the NFC North is wide open.”
He’s right, the division is wide open. And in 2023, Love went on an epic run from Week 11-17, where he threw 18 touchdowns and only one pick. There’s no reason to think that can’t happen again, but without star tight end Tucker Kraft and a banged up offensive line, it’s going to be a tall order.
So the next time you want to wish that Love wasn’t in Green Bay or if you don’t think he’s the guy, just know that things could be a lot worse. You could be wearing purple, listening to a silly horn and watching a quarterback airmail his receivers.