Getty
Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy gets praise from Atlanta Falcons’ Raheem Morris.
The Atlanta Falcons travel to Minneapolis this week for a Sunday night clash with the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings are fresh off of a thrilling, come-from-behind win against the Chicago Bears on Monday night, which kinda said more about the Bears than it did about the Vikings.
Still, second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy was stellar, even if it was tough going early. He completed 65% of his passes for 143 yards, two touchdowns and one interception (although it was a pick six). His late-game heroics earned him NFC Player of the Week in the NFL for Week 1.
Falcons head coach Raheem Morris talked about McCarthy’s slow start this week.
“I don’t think J.J. looks at it like that at all,” Morris said. “I think J.J. looks at it like he won the football game, and that’s his only job.”
McCarthy missed his entire first year with the Vikings with a torn meniscus, so this is sort of his rookie season.
Raheem Morris says McCarthy is a “proven winner”
Morris knows McCarthy well coming out of college because the Falcons took Michael Penix eighth overall in the 2024 NFL Draft. McCarthy went 10th overall, so it’s safe to say Morris was paying attention to the signal callers in that draft.
“He’s a winner. He’s a proven winner,” the Falcons head coach said of McCarthy’s win over the Bears. “He’s gone out and won at the collegiate level, [and now] his first game as a pro. I think he just goes out and just plays football and does what he’s supposed to do.
“Everybody knows in this game there’s going to be ups and downs. It doesn’t matter how he started. It’s really how he finished. He threw a game-winning touchdown. He sealed it in a four-minute drive and was able to go out there and find a way to win that football game. That’s really what’s most important. That’s ultimately great quarterback play when you talk about those things.”
McCarthy earns NFC Player of the Week for the first week of the NFL season
The upcoming battle between the Falcons and Vikings should be interesting for a couple of reasons. Not only is it potentially an important NFC showdown, but it’s also a matchup of two second-year quarterbacks who were taken two slots from one another. After just one week, both first-year starters have looked good, but it was McCarthy that got the hardware.
“One game into his NFL career and McCarthy is already an award winner,” writes Grant Gordon of NFL.com. “With the Vikings trailing by 11 points in the fourth quarter, McCarthy led his squad on three successive touchdown drives en route to a 27-24 win. McCarthy, making his NFL debut after missing all of his rookie campaign with a knee injury, threw his first two career touchdowns and rushed for his first score in the fourth quarter to lead the rally. His final — and first — stat line read: 13 of 20 for 143 yards and two touchdowns; two carries for 25 yards and a TD.”
The game kicks off at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.”
Micah Warren Micah Warren has been covering the NFL – and sports in general – for more than 20 years and he began writing for Heavy in 2025. His work has been featured in Yahoo!, MSN.com, Forbes, amNewYork, Off the Record, GCobb.com, Muck Rack, PR Daily, Blast Magazine and other sports and non-sports-related outlets. Micah also co-hosts “The Philly Pulse” podcast. More about Micah Warren
More Heavy on Falcons
Loading more stories
