The Minnesota Vikings closed the 2025 NFL season on a strong note, winning five straight games to reach a 9-8 finish after a 16-3 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Jan. 4 at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The finale also gave quarterback J.J. McCarthy another chance to play, although he pulled himself midway through the game due to his right-hand injury.
McCarthy went 14-for-23 on his pass attempts for 182 passing yards, but more importantly, the second-season quarterback showed a promising connection with Justin Jefferson, who recorded eight receptions for 101 receiving yards.
Jordan Mason added balance on the ground, rushing for 94 yards on fourteen carries and consistently moving the chains while averaging 6.7 yards per attempt.
After the win over the Packers, McCarthy shared why he decided that it was best for him to come out of the game.
“In a way, I don’t want to say because it feels bad in my heart, but I was happy I made the right decision,” McCarthy told reporters after the Vikings’ win. “I learned from something from the prior week, where feeling the momentum of the game, how well the defense is playing, when it gets to a point where you feel like your body is going to say, ‘No, you can’t do that,’ you got to put your ego aside and understand you got to do what’s best for the team.
“It’s a similar situation that came up [against the Packers], and it killed me to pull myself out. Never done that before, but had to do what’s best for the team.”
Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy Shares More Injury Details
Moreover, McCarthy detailed when, during the game, the pain became too much for him to be effective on the field.
“It just started throbbing up a little bit during halftime, and I threw that first pass to Justin, and it was ten yards away from me. I didn’t feel like I could throw any further than that without something wild happening with the accuracy or the decision-making. So, yeah, it felt like it was best to take me.”
Harrison Smith Gets Honest About Vikings Future
While in any other game, the injury to McCarthy would be the major story, it wasn’t in Week 18 as that belonged to veteran safety Harrison Smith, who potentially played his last game as a Viking. After Minnesota defeated Green Bay, Smith shared his first thoughts on what was an emotional end to the game for him.
“A lot of appreciation,” Smith said after the game to CBS Sports. “A lot of thanks to everyone who has helped me since I was young, growing all the way up. So it’s pretty overwhelming.”
Moreover, it appears that Smith is close to deciding whether to retire or give it one more season with Minnesota.
“I mean, I’m definitely leaning one way, but I’m not one to never say never,” Smith added. “So we’ll see.”
It will be interesting to see if this emotional send-off is indeed a sign that Smith wants to ride into the sunset, knowing that he left playing football at a high level rather than the game moving on from him.
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