{"id":115858,"date":"2025-11-11T10:00:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T15:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/?p=115858"},"modified":"2025-11-12T10:20:48","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T15:20:48","slug":"nfl-week-10-recap-jj-mccarthy-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/analysis\/nfl-week-10-recap-jj-mccarthy-struggles\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Week 10 Recap: J.J. McCarthy Remains a Work in Progress"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With last week\u2019s loss to the Ravens, <strong>J.J. McCarthy<\/strong> surpassed 100 attempts and is now qualified to be ranked among his peers to examine his season performance.<\/p>\n<p>And the results are troubling to say the least.<\/p>\n<p>Out of 37 qualifying quarterbacks, McCarthy ranks dead last in completion rate at just 53.7%.<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-shortcode\"><iframe title=\"J.J. McCarthy Struggling Badly \u2014 Vikings Must Fix This Fast\" width=\"1100\" height=\"619\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/12wCoC2n-0A?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>47% of McCarthy\u2019s dropbacks are lasting 3+ seconds, which ranks #1 in the NFL.<\/p>\n<p>But while a lot of the other numbers I\u2019m about to discuss may seem surprising, this was exactly how this offense worked with <strong>Sam<\/strong> <strong>Darnold<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>As mentioned in my preview book, Darnold had the #3 highest average time to throw (3.0 seconds).<\/p>\n<p>Nearly 50% of Darnold\u2019s dropbacks lasted 3+ seconds.<\/p>\n<p>The NFL average was 32%.<\/p>\n<p>McCarthy\u2019s time to throw is likewise high.<\/p>\n<p>It is #2 in the NFL at 3.1 seconds.<\/p>\n<p>However, despite holding the ball so long on these first down attempts, Darnold averaged just 7.9 air yards per attempt, which ranked just #16.<\/p>\n<p>McCarthy is averaging 10.0 air yards, which ranks #1.<\/p>\n<p>As a result of an overall more manageable target depth, Darnold\u2019s accuracy ranked #4 out of 46 quarterbacks, and his completion rate ranked #8 out of 46.<\/p>\n<p>McCarthy\u2019s accuracy ranks #36 out of 37 QBs, and his completion rate, as mentioned earlier, ranks dead last, #37 of 37 QBs.<\/p>\n<p>This staff must figure out a way to get McCarthy\u2019s completion rate to improve.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s impossible to run an effective offense when your QB completes so few passes.<\/p>\n<p>Before anything else happens, before the defense or the run game, the Vikings need to figure out how to get McCarthy to complete passes at a much higher rate.<\/p>\n<p>While you might think the answer is just to reduce the #1 highest target depth, that\u2019s not the final solution.<\/p>\n<p>On passes thrown fewer than five yards downfield, McCarthy ranks dead last in completion rate, #37 of 37.<\/p>\n<p>He also ranks #36 in completion rate and #33 in EPA per attempt.<\/p>\n<p>On passes thrown fewer than two yards downfield, McCarthy still ranks dead last in completion rate.<\/p>\n<p>With the rest of the NFC North having 6-3 records or better, the 4-5 Vikings are the odd man out both in the division and the playoff hunt, which has them 10th in the NFC.<\/p>\n<p>And the toughest part is, after playing an easier-than-average schedule to this point in the season, the Vikings will play the NFL\u2019s #1 toughest schedule the rest of the season.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, they have a game against the Bears' #29 ranked pass defense on deck.<\/p>\n<p>But after that, they\u2019ll play back-to-back games against the top-10 pass defenses of the Packers and Seahawks, and both are on the road.<\/p>\n<p>If Minnesota wants to pull off a comeback on the season and sneak into the playoffs, it has to start this week against Chicago.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kevin O'Connell<\/strong> must figure out a strategy to improve McCarthy\u2019s completion rate.<\/p>\n\t<div class='sfa-image-adds' style=\"margin-bottom: 20px;\">\n\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/newsletter\/'>\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Sharp-Football-Analysis-Newsletter-Ad.jpg\" class=\"attachment-size-full size-size-full\" alt=\"Sharp Football Analysis Newsletter\" \/>\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With last week\u2019s loss to the Ravens, J.J. McCarthy surpassed  [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87531,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"NFL Week 10 Recap: J.J. McCarthy Remains a Work in Progress","_seopress_titles_desc":"Warren Sharp examines why J.J. McCarthy has struggled. How can the Vikings help McCarthy improve moving forward? Rest of season 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