The Minnesota Vikings traveling to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 13 is more like a nightmare than a sleepless night for a beleaguered fan base.
Longtime Vikings insider Mark Craig of the Star Tribune said it’s time for the fan base to “calm the heck down” despite 2024 top-10 pick and quarterback J.J. McCarthy’s horrendous start. Craig compared McCarthy’s first six games to that of many other more-prominent quarterbacks but not to minimize the grim nature of McCarthy’s early woes.
“It is, however, meant to somehow influence Vikings Nation and national media folks to CALM THE HECK DOWN! Just a whiff of something resembling a hint of patience would be a good start,” Craig wrote.
That said, McCarthy’s struggles and the Vikings’ recent quarterback decisions have the fan base stewing more than anything the Lambeau Field tailgaters cooked up before the Vikings’ 23-6 loss to the Green Bay Packers for Week 12. In lieu of McCarthy, Undrafted rookie Max Brosmer looks like the starter against a Seahawks team that boasts the quarterback, Sam Darnold, whom the Vikings let go after a 14-3 season in 2024.
It all leaves the Vikings fan base in greater buyer’s remorse than Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday shoppers combined. McCarthy’s numbers of 929 yards, six touchdown passes, 10 interceptions, and a 54.1% completion rate adds up to that level of disappointment for a fan base that went from years of big numbers from Kirk Cousins to Darnold’s big year to McCarthy’s early blunder in three years.
4 Quarterbacks Who Stumbled Big Out the Gate
Craig’s list of other highly-touted first-round quarterbacks stumbling is quite impressive, and the quarterback likely had their fan bases wanting to hit delete amid their initial buyer’s remorse. That includes Matthew Stafford, who is lighting things up for the Los Angeles Rams this season, and Peyton Manning who is in the Hall of Fame. Stafford had 12 interceptions in his first six games with the Detroit Lions, and Manning had 14 interceptions in his first six contests. Neither had more than six touchdown passes and all the other key numbers looked abysmal.
“We could go on,” Craig wrote. “We could mention how Drake Maye started 2-4 while completing 57.5% of his passes with New England last year. We could mention that Baker Mayfield started 1-5 while completing 58.7% of his passes with Cleveland in 2018.”
Maye is now leading the 10-2 Patriots with the best record in the league during his second year as a starter. Mayfield took the reins from Tom Brady in Tampa Bay three years ago, and the Buccaneers haven’t missed a beat.
“None of this is meant to say the Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy will be the MVP front-runner when he’s 37, like Stafford. Or win five MVPs and stroll into the Hall of Fame, like Manning. Or start next season 10-2 while completing a league-best 71% of his passes on a team that sits atop its conference, like Maye is doing in Year 2 with New England,” Craig wrote. “McCarthy is 2-4. He’s a 54.1% passer. He has thrown six touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. His passer rating is 57.9.”
Mark Craig Calls Fan Base ‘Uber-Impatient’
Vikings fans’ disappointment over McCarthy isn’t atypical in the NFL, where instant success is expected year after year.
“So, to answer the ridiculous but predictably uber-impatient NFL question of the week, no, the Vikings shouldn’t move on from McCarthy,” Craig wrote. “Not now or next week if undrafted rookie Max Brosmer somehow helps upset Sam Darnold and the Seahawks.”
“Franchise-altering decisions were made with McCarthy as the focal point. More will follow,” Craig added. “Brosmer? Sorry, Max, but please. In this movie, your name comes at the end of the credits as ‘third quarterback to appear.’”
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