ESPN analysts look foolish after J.J. McCarthy's performance in Detroit

McCarthy led the Vikings to a huge win in Detroit just hours after ESPN's experts said Minnesota's decision to go with McCarthy over Sam Darnold was "horrendous."

Nov 2, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) throws the ball during the first quarter against the Minnesota Vikings at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images | Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

While ESPN's panel of talking heads spent a good amount of Sunday's pregame show riffing about how they think the Vikings made a "horrendous" decision letting Sam Darnold walk in free agency while handing the keys to the franchise to J.J. McCarthy, McCarthy was on the bench at Ford Field in Detroit mentally preparing for victory.

In the end, McCarthy guided a three-touchdown performance and a pivotal win over the division rival Lions, all the while making ESPN's doubters look foolish.

"I'm just still on the quarterback thing," Tedy Bruschi said, bewildered about the Vikings not re-signing Darnold after his Pro Bowl season in 2024-25. "I don't know what happened."

"100 percent they made a mistake," Rex Ryan said. "This is a horrendous decision. Say what you want... they offered [Darnold] something they knew [he] wouldn't take, as a parting gift heading out the door."

"Quite honestly, why didn't they look at trading J.J. McCarthy?" Ryan later added. "When you have a guy that won 14 games for you, I think that would've been the right move."

Former quarterback Alex Smith agreed with Ryan.

"We've seen every quarterback that's played for Kevin O'Connell light it up. Kirk Cousins did, Sam Darnold obviously did, and the thought process that, 'Man, J.J. McCarthy's going to go out there and light it up,' and it hasn't been the case," Smith said.

All three failed to recognize the circumstances of McCarthy's first two games of the season, which included him winning NFC Offensive Player of the Week after leading three fourth-quarter touchdown drives in a come-from-behind win over Chicago, and then playing behing a banged-up offensive line in a home loss to a Falcons team that has routinely shut down opposing quarterbacks this season.

Sunday at Detroit was literally McCarthy's third career start, but hey, judge away, ESPN guys.

The one ESPN panelist who wasn't hammering the Vikings for choosing McCarthy was Vikings legend Randy Moss.

"Going into the Detroit Lions, it's all about the win," Moss said. "Today, I'm not living in the past and I don't want J.J. McCarthy and the Vikes to live in the past. Yes, you made mistakes and it's time to move on. It's all about the Lions. The next three games they have is the Lions, the Ravens, and the Bears. So all this talk about the past, we can live about that now. J.J. McCarthy has to lead the Vikings to a victory and get things started."

McCarthy completed 14-of-25 passes for 143 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. He also scored a rushing touchdown on a critical 3rd-and-9 play late in the third quarter. And with the game hanging in the balance, he threw a perfect pass to Jalen Nailor for a third-down conversion that led to him taking a couple of knees in victory formation.