What We Learned About JJ McCarthy in Vikings Win Over Cowboys

When the Minnesota Vikings woke up Sunday morning, they were 4-8 and their playoff hopes were receiving Last Rites. By the time their game Sunday night kicked off, the postseason plug had been pulled.

In other words, the Vikings entered Sunday Night Football with ABSOLUTELY nothing to play for, after being officially mathematically eliminated from playoff contention earlier in the day.

On the other sideline at AT&T Stadium, the 6-6-1 Dallas Cowboys had everything to play for. With a win, they’d have the inside track to a playoff spot, with just three weeks remaining in the regular season. Lose… and their playoff dreams would be on life support too.

Unfortunately for “America’s Team”, there were NINE problems standing in the way of their evening plans to roll the Vikings on National TV. His name was JJ McCarthy… who after another impressive performance tonight, has now stacked two-straight weeks of positive development in his quarterback journey, leading to a 34-26 road win.

Last week, McCarthy started to turn the narrative on his redshirt rookie season, completing nearly 70% of his passes and throwing for three touchdowns. On Sunday night, head coach and play-caller Kevin O’Connell opened up the playbook a little bit, and JJ looked even better than he did vs Washington.

Minnesota Vikings, JJ McCarthy impress for second-straight week

The 22-year-old (who turns 23 next month) missed some throws in Arlington tonight, and his completion percentage suffered some because of it. But that’s going to happen, especially with a kid QB.

But after he threw an opening drive interception that was tipped at the line of scrimmage, McCarthy rebounded the very next drive with a TD. Even more importantly, he took care of the football the rest of the way.

When the dust settled, JJ completed 15-of-24 passes for 250 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception and 1 rushing touchdown. Jalen Nailor (3 REC, 47 YDS, 2 TD) and TJ Hockenson (4 REC, 66 YDS) got the bulk of the work.

JJ “Nine” McCarthy 15/24, 266 Total YDS, 3 Total TDs, 1 INT vs DAL Tonight.

Nine has arrived.😈pic.twitter.com/nYD4Mu9uzM https://t.co/YNW02fHhA9

— Football Performances (@NFLPerformances) December 15, 2025

Was JJ McCarthy perfect on Sunday night? No, of course not. If you watch enough football, you will quickly realize that few QBs regularly play well enough to carry their teams to victory. Those who do go to the Hall of Fame.

But let’s not forget that just two weeks ago, at least half of Vikings nation and most of national media had already given up on McCarthy. Back then, it looked like “Nine” was destined to live longer as an internet meme than NFL quarterback.

Breathe Vikings fans, McCarthy is gonna be fine

If we could take a time machine to week 13 — when JJ was in concussion protocol and coming off a performance in Green Bay in which he went 12/19 for 87 yards, 2 TD and 0 INT — and show the internet how McCarthy would be playing in weeks 14 and 15… what would everyone have had to get anxious about for two weeks?

Even most of the optimistic JJ McCarthy believers were having doubts about whether or not O’Connell & Co. would have to cast their lure back into the starting QB waters.

One thing has become pretty clear the last couple weeks, though. You can breathe out. The kid quarterback is going to be just fine. Not only do JJ’s numbers look better the past couple of weeks, but he continues to look more and more comfortable on the field.

#Vikings QB JJ McCarthy on his walk in TD griddy celebration:

“I did it in practice and I was told not to do it. So me being who I am, it's like oh, now I'm more enticed to do it. I'll definitely get a minus for that one.”pic.twitter.com/vHYQ8Cv0WE

— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) December 15, 2025

He looks like he is thinking less and less, playing more with instinct, letting his talent take over. Outside of Colin Cowherd, nobody has doubted this kid’s talent or aura.

Suddenly he is looking more comfortable, and because of that, you can literally see more of his shine out on the football field. Of course, there are still three weeks remaining in the regular season.

So JJ McCarthy’s mission now is stacking a third-straight step in the right direction on top of the last two. Then, do it again… and again. Should he do that, I think the MN Vikings go into the offseason without a question at starting quarterback for the first time in three years.