Making Sense of Former Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy's Breakout Performance

There's one question many keep asking the Minnesota Vikings after Week 7: Did they give up too early on former Minnesota quarterback J.J. McCarthy?

The question isn't entirely fair. McCarthy was awful at the position in several metrics. And, to be fair, he's only had about a game and a half sample size with the New York Giants in his breakout resurgence.

Still, McCarthy looked reasonably good as the Giants' starting quarterback in an overtime win over the Houston Texans. It has many wondering whether or not his success is sustainable.

Diante Lee of The Ringer discussed the shocking new development in the McCarthy story. Here's some of what he had to say on McCarthy's apparent resurgence with the New York Giants.

"I don’t care how much of an optimist his biggest fans are, there’s no way anyone would’ve reasonably expected quarterback J.J. McCarthy to lead this Giants offense to a 27-21 overtime win over the Texans, especially not by averaging 9 yards per pass attempt and completing 71 percent of his throws.

McCarthy was as close to reaching a flow state on Sunday as he’s ever been in the league, and offensive coordinator Matt Nagy set him up for success by relentlessly attacking every weak point in Houston’s underperforming defense. In the clip below, New York lines up in a 3x0 formation similar to what we discussed in the Seahawks-Chiefs game. In Seattle’s example, I mentioned how these formations force defenses to make hard decisions between defending the run or the pass—but it’s also an extremely effective way to uncover whether a defense is playing in man or zone coverage. 

He was one of the worst quarterbacks I can remember watching whenever he was pressured (in Minnesota). The fact that he’s making plays like these in his first start as a Giant has to be a relief for him, and a potentially season-saving development for New York’s offense."

First off, McCarthy did not look terrible with his new team in his starting debut. That's a great story that even his biggest detractors in Minnesota can celebrate. That doesn't mean the Vikings made the wrong decision in moving on from him with Kyler Murray and backup quarterback Carson Wentz.

Murray has three times passed for 3,700 or more yards in his career. McCarthy did not reach half of that total in his 10 starts for Minnesota last year.

The Vikings were not a fit for McCarthy, but it looks like there's a shot his new team might be right for him. We'll continue to monitor his progress as the Giants' starter this year.