JJ McCarthy’s concerning habit following Week 2 loss against the Atlanta Falcons

Vikings quarterback JJ McCarthy was only seeing half of the field on Sunday Night Football

McCarthy came into Sunday night’s game with confidence, having pulled together a great fourth quarter last weekend. He then celebrated the birth of his first child this week, and was praised by head coach Kevin O’Connell for his performance when he returned to practice.

Unfortunately, McCarthy never found a rhythm in Week 2. The suggestion that the lights were too bright on prime time, which was valid for three quarters in the season opener, certainly had a claim for all four quarters against the Atlanta Falcons.

Minnesota were held to just six points in the game, and completely shut out in the second half. JJ McCarthy threw 11 completions on 21 attempts, totaling 158 yards with two interceptions.

One of those interceptions was a sideline throw that was undercut by a defender, in the same way the pick-six was last Monday against the Chicago Bears.

That said, there was a more concerning problem in Week 2, evidenced by the passing chart from the game.

Per Next Gen Stats, JJ McCarthy only completed two passes all night to the left side of the hashes, and only threw a total of five passes in that direction.

This wasn’t the case in Week 1, so perhaps the Falcons were doing a great job of taking the backside of the field away. However, if McCarthy is not able to progress through his reads and get to those backside throws, the Vikings are going to have to iron that out.

Naturally, there are going to be things McCarthy needs to work on, and that was made clear when Kevin O’Connell cooled expectations before the season began.

That said, if teams start to key in on McCarthy zoning in on the right side of the field, life in the NFL will get a lot harder on him in a hurry.

The second interception was a sailed throw down the right sideline, intercepted by rookie safety Xavier Watts with just shy of three minutes to play in the fourth quarter. Watts was ball-hawking all night, just as he did at Notre Dame, and got his reward with a few minutes to go.

Decision to turn to JJ McCarthy was criticized, and could get a lot worse if the season doesn’t go well

This offseason, the Minnesota Vikings opted to let Sam Darnold walk as a free agent, and turned to the first-round rookie they’d drafted the year before in JJ McCarthy.

Darnold had just had an incredible career year in his first season in Minnesota, settling in perfectly within O’Connell’s offense.

The veteran threw for 4,319 passing yards and 35 touchdowns, almost doubling his previous career high (19) in passing TDs.

Instead of then re-signing as the Vikings starter, he headed for a $100.5 million deal with the Seattle Seahawks, and the Vikings placed their faith in McCarthy, who’d never started an NFL game.

At some point, teams have to turn to their first-round draft picks, granted, but Stephen A. Smith pointed out that doing so without a backup plan was a mistake.

Kevin O’Connell has been phenomenal since he took the head coaching job in Minnesota. However, if McCarthy really struggles, he’s going to face a lot of adversity for the first time in the role.