For the majority of his NFL debut on Monday night, Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy looked like you would expect a player starting his first game in the NFL to look, making some key mistakes and struggling to deal with an NFL defense.
But after an impressive fourth-quarter flurry from the Vikings, McCarthy got both his first win and his first NFL Award under his belt.
Through the first three quarters of Monday’s game, McCarthy had thrown for a total of just 56 passing yards, with the Vikings being unable to get into the end zone to that point.
However, things turned around in the fourth quarter for McCarthy, putting up 87 passing yards in the quarter and helping the Vikings erase an 11-point deficit with three straight touchdown drives for Minnesota en route to a 27-24 victory.
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It was far from a perfect performance from McCarthy, who had a rough pick-six in the third quarter that was practically gifted to Bears cornerback Nahshon Wright.
But nonetheless, McCarthy did what he needed to do to get a win for his team. And on Wednesday, McCarthy was rewarded for his heroic efforts in the Vikings’ comeback victory.
On Wednesday, McCarthy was named the NFC Offensive Rookie of the Week for his play in Week 1.
On paper, there were some other players in the NFC who perhaps deserved this honor more than McCarthy if you are strictly looking at McCarthy’s stats in the game. Notably, Rams star wide receiver Puka Nacua hauled in ten receptions for 130 yards in his team’s 14-9 win over the Houston Texans.
Still, McCarthy does deserve recognition for the kind of fourth quarter that he put together. And he is certainly getting just that.
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Now, McCarthy will look to clean up some of his mistakes heading into a Week 2 matchup against a quarterback he is quite familiar with.
McCarthy and the Vikings will head home to U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis to host Michael Penix and the Atlanta Falcons, which is a rematch of the two quarterbacks who faced off in the 2024 National Championship when the two represented Michigan and Washington, respectively.
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