The Minnesota Vikings went on the road to face the Dallas Cowboys and came home with a Sunday Night Football win. J.J. McCarthy is now 2-0 against the NFC East and will get his chance to go 3-0 next week against the New York Giants. He did not play in the Philadelphia Eagles game. The offense has had back-to-back 30+ point performances, though against less-than-stellar defenses. Let’s take a peek at who deserves some credit.
J.J. McCarthy
McCarthy followed up his best game as a professional with an even better game. As they pointed out constantly on the broadcast, his mechanics are a mess. It’s still leading to some inaccurate throws. However, he made enough throws last night to win the game. He’s figuring it out on the fly and it’s great to see the improvements he’s making. McCarthy is making a case for another year as the QB of the Future in 2026.
Jalen Nailor
Nailor and McCarthy appear to have solid chemistry. Whatever isn’t clicking between McCarthy and Jefferson seems to be working with Nailor. Nailor had 3 receptions and 2 touchdowns on 5 targets from McCarthy.
Brian Flores
The defense wasn’t perfect, but they held the best offense in the league to two TDs and a bunch of long FG attempts. The first TD was off the interception on the first play of the game. It took the Cowboys 11 plays and a fake FG to get the 35 yards for the TD. That game could’ve easily turned into a shootout, but the bend-don’t-break defense made it possible for the team to pull away in the 2nd half.
Jonathan Greenard
The defense was in the backfield all day. Greenard has been fighting through injuries the last few weeks. He split two sacks (one with Van Ginkel and one with Hargrave) last night and had another few pressures. Greenard is my nod for the entire effort from the defensive front.
Will Reichard
I left Reichard off the list for the poll. He deserves a lot of credit as he outplayed Brandon Aubrey. Reichard was 6 for 6 on kicks. 4 XPs and 2 FGs nailed and all no doubters. This kid is good.
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