J.J. McCarthy is seeing the field better, and here's what he says changed

After two wins against struggling defenses, McCarthy explains why he feels more comfortable.

Dec 14, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) warms up before a game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

J.J. McCarthy believes he's starting to catch up to the speed of the NFL.

After accounting for six touchdowns in back-to-back wins over the Commanders and Cowboys, McCarthy has a renewed sense of confidence, largely because he's getting more comfortable in head coach Kevin O'Connell's offense. On Wednesday, he was asked if the game is slowing down for him.

"Yes, sir. Dramatically," McCarthy answered.

"Obviously, the more reps you see, the live bullets, but like I talked about, the overall understanding of the offense, it slows everything down tremendously because you're not using that extra thinking of, 'The ball's snapped, I have it in my hands, is he running that route?' So it eliminates those split-second miscues and processing. That's helped tremendously throughout the year."

McCarthy watched film from the win over Dallas and came away pleased.

"Every play felt in sync. It felt on time," he explained. "It didn't feel like there was any indecisiveness, and when there was, and I couldn't see over the line or something like that, I was dishing the ball out and just putting it in play. I feel like that growth was something that really stood out."

He was also pleased with how he got rid of the ball quickly, or scrambled to the right spots, when the pocket collapsed and put him under pressure. What changed against the Cowboys, where he wasn't sacked, after being sacked nine times in his previous two starts?

"Emphasizing where my outlets are, and checkdowns. Just knowing where to scramble," McCarthy said. "It's one thing to get out of a fight-or-flight situation, but it's another thing to, not necessarily predetermined, but just be aware of where the slide's going, where the man side is. Because that's usually going to be where the gaps are going to open up. And what concepts are over there? What routes are over there? So just understanding the offense more as a whole has helped tremendously."

All of this sounds great, but how much does his comfort level have to do with playing two of the worst defenses in the NFL the last two weeks? If that had anything to do with it, he should feel great this week when the Vikings face a New York Giants team that ranks 30th and 29th in total yards and points allowed, respectively.

McCarthy looked anything but comfortable in consecutive losses to the Ravens, Bears, and Packers. The Bears aren't statistically great on defense outside of leading the NFL in forced turnovers, the Ravens are a middling defense, and the Packers are top 10. Maybe there is something to the game slowing down for McCarthy.

If so, we'll really find out when the Lions visit Minneapolis on Christmas Day, and perhaps again in Week 18 if the Packers are still playing for playoff positioning in the regular-season finale.