McCarthy throws 3 TD passes as Vikings cruise to shutout over Commanders

That's more like it for J.J. McCarthy and the Minnesota Vikings.

McCarthy took advantage of a poor defense and played the best game of his young career, Brian Flores' defense came up with three takeaways, and the Vikings emphatically put an end to their four-game losing streak in a 31-0 victory over the Washington Commanders on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

The Vikings are the first team to pitch a shutout one game after being shut out since 1992.

It has to be acknowledged that the Commanders, who have now lost eight consecutive games, might have the worst defense in the NFL. But even within that context, this was a clear step in the right direction for McCarthy in his seventh career start. He threw three touchdown passes for the first time in his career, with all of them going to tight ends. Just as important is that he didn't throw an interception for the first time in his seven starts after throwing ten of them in his first six.

McCarthy's final line was 16 of 23 for 163 yards, three TDs, and no picks. He also ran for 19 yards on six carries. He made good reads and decisions. He threw the ball accurately. He took off an ran when there was nothing there. The Commanders' defense is very bad, the Vikings went with a run-heavy game plan, and McCarthy didn't have to throw with much touch over the course of the day. Still, this was an encouraging performance from the Vikings' young signal-caller, who had struggled so mightily in his last few outings.

It's the first career win at home for McCarthy.

The Vikings ran for 162 yards as a team, including 76 from Aaron Jones. They went 6 of 11 on third down and 2 for 2 on fourth down. And they got a strong performance from their defense, which came up with two interceptions, a fumble recovery, and a turnover on downs. The Commanders had three drives go deep into Vikings territory, but none of them ended up with even a single point.

The stadium wasn't quite full for a game between two teams well out of the playoff picture, but the Vikings fans in attendance were loud and got plenty to cheer about. McCarthy and the offense marched down the field on the opening drive and scored on a touchdown catch by Josh Oliver. The Commanders responded with a very long drive on the next possession, but turned it over on downs at Minnesota's 1.

That launched an epic Vikings drive. They went 98 yards over 19 plays and 12 minutes, scoring on a Jordan Mason rushing TD. It's the Vikings' longest drive, in terms of plays run, since at least 2000.

The Vikings led 14-0 at half, and things kept sailing smoothly after the break. McCarthy threw another touchdown pass to Oliver in the third quarter, which gave the Vikings' No. 2 tight end the first multi-TD game of his career. Andrew Van Ginkel and Harrison Smith had interceptions in that quarter. And in the fourth, McCarthy found T.J. Hockenson for a score to really put the game away.

McCarthy and the Vikings will look to continue their momentum next week in a much tougher challenge against the Cowboys. It's a road primetime contest.