‘We’re going to find ways’ — Kevin O’Connell confirmed what Vikings fans want to see, and J.J. McCarthy is close to executing it
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell knows they have to get Justin Jefferson involved, and J.J. McCarthy is getting closer to making it happen.
Starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy had arguably his best game as the Minnesota Vikings’ signal caller against the Washington Commanders. Not only did they get a 31-0 shutout against a team in last year’s NFC Championship Game, but the offense also operated the most efficiently than it has all season long.
There were many levels where the Vikings’ offense thrived, including a 19-play, 98-yard touchdown drive, which felt like the game-winning drive in the second quarter. He was doing a good job across the board of operating the offense and making good decisions. He hit a couple of really nice out-breaking routes, including this one to wide receiver Jordan Addison, which was eerily similar to the one he made against the Chicago Bears in Week 1.
There were a lot of positives from the game, including one play call from the second half that shows there is still some work to do.
Minnesota Vikings continue creating explosive plays for Justin Jefferson
As much as the Vikings should feel good about their quarterback’s performance on Sunday afternoon, there is still work to be done. One play that exemplifies that is a shot play drawn up by head coach Kevin O’Connell to hit Justin Jefferson down the field.
“He [McCarthy] had a chance for a touchdown there in the second half, and J.J. got moved off the spot, but actually created a play on the sideline to put an exclamation point on the day, and had a chance there, but J.J. had to move off the spot. But we’re going to find ways to get Justin the ball,” said O’Connell after the game.
Here’s the play that O’Connell referenced, and you can see Jefferson spring wide open.
It’s not as simple as getting him open and him catching the football. There are still a lot of other factors with these plays. You can see Jefferson start to spring open when McCarthy hits the top of his drop, so why didn’t McCarthy pull the trigger?
You can see right guard Will Fries get pushed deeper into the pocket, and McCarthy likely didn’t feel like he could drive on the ball enough with Fries in his face, and a rusher was in the A-gap when McCarthy tried to slide to the left and make the throw. He turns this into a great play with a 16-yard scramble, but they are finding ways to spring open, including, as O’Connell said, drawing it up on the sidelines.
“If Justin has demonstrated anything this year, the leadership smile on his face right now, he wants to win,” said O’Connell. “Justin Jefferson’s been playing at a really high level, and he did again today. It’s not necessarily going to always show up in the stat sheet, but he means the absolute world to this organization, and you don’t have a performance like we did today, unless your leadership, Justin being a huge part of that, remains driving the ship forward and bringing some teammates along with them.”
Eventually, these are going to hit, and then we will see the Vikings take a big step forward.