Behind three touchdown passes from J.J. McCarthy, the Vikings cruised to a 31-0 win over the Commanders on Sunday. They’re the first team since the 1992 Broncos to score 0 points one week and hold a team to 0 points the next week.
Here are five things that stood out from the win.
McCarthy’s much-needed big day
After struggling so much in his first six NFL games, and particularly the last three, McCarthy needed a day like this one. He came into this game with a new mentality, which was to play freely and not worry about his mechanics. That worked out pretty well. It came against a very bad Commanders defense, but McCarthy had the best game of his career and showed a lot of encouraging signs in the process.
In the first half, McCarthy was 9 of 11 for 99 yards and a TD. After the break, he completed 7 of 12 passes for 64 yards and two more scores. For the game, his line was 16 of 23 for 163 yards, 3 TDs, and no picks. That’s a passer rating of 129.2.
This was a pretty ideal setup for a young quarterback, between the defense he was facing and the game script, which allowed the Vikings to lean on the run all day long. But McCarthy made good decisions and threw the ball accurately. He connected with tight ends Josh Oliver (twice) and T.J. Hockenson for his touchdowns, and he found Jordan Addison four times for 62 yards. Most importantly, he didn’t throw an interception for the first time in his career.
JJ McCarthy throws a strike down the seam for a Vikings TD!
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— NFL (@NFL) December 7, 2025
It was a big-time game from McCarthy, who will look to build on this performance next week against the Cowboys.
Gink does his thing
In the third quarter, with the Commanders facing a 4th and 3 at the Vikings’ 19, Jayden Daniels tried to throw a screen to the left side. That was a mistake. Why? Because that’s where Andrew Van Ginkel was lined up. No outside linebacker in football is better at getting his hands on screen passes than Van Ginkel, and he made his signature play happen once again.
Van Ginkel tipped the pass, caught it, and took off for the opposite end zone. Terry McLaurin was able to prevent a touchdown, but the return still went for 41 yards and set up a Vikings field goal. It was the third interception in a Vikings uniform for Van Ginkel, who has come close to several others on similar types of plays. This time, he got one.
Andrew Van Ginkel bats it in the air and picks off Jayden Daniels!
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— NFL (@NFL) December 7, 2025
Hitman adds to his career INT total
During Van Ginkel’s interception return, Daniels was blocked onto his banged-up left elbow by Isaiah Rodgers. So in came backup Marcus Mariota for the ensuing possession. And his second pass attempt of the day resulted in another interception for the Vikings’ defense. This one was read all the way by Harrison Smith, who stepped in front of the intended route and snagged the 38th pick of his remarkable career (and his first of the season).
Those 38 interceptions for Smith lead all active players. He moved into sole possession of fourth place in Vikings history in that statistic, breaking a tie with Joey Browner. The only Vikings with more are Paul Krause (53), Bobby Bryant (51), and Ed Sharockman (40). Third place could be within reach, especially if Smith elects to play a 15th season in 2026.
Short-yardage play calls
Kevin O’Connell’s play-calling in short-yardage situations has been a topic of discussion throughout this season. In this game, he mostly leaned on the run in those spots — and it worked. Aaron Jones picked up a first down on 2nd and 1 before the Vikings’ opening touchdown. Jordan Mason ran for an 8-yard score on 3rd and 1 on Minnesota’s next possession, capping a 98-yard drive. Jones also converted a 3rd and 1 on the ground later in the second quarter.
The only time O’Connell went away from the run in short-yardage spots came in the fourth quarter, when he dialed up three straight passes at the Washington 2-yard-line. McCarthy tried to scramble on the first and the second was incomplete, but the third resulted in a touchdown pass to Hockenson, so it all worked out.
For good measure, Zavier Scott converted a 4th and 1 on the ground just before the 2-minute warning, which allowed the Vikings to kneel it out.
Jefferson very quiet again
A couple weeks ago, Justin Jefferson’s lowest receiving yardage total in a game was 14, which came against the Lions in 2022. He’s now gone below that mark two weeks in a row. Jefferson had two catches for a career-low four yards in Seattle, and he had two catches for 11 yards in this game. He also had a 10-yard catch nullified by penalty and an end zone target that he couldn’t quite come down with after contact with his defender.
Jefferson simply has not been able to do much under McCarthy, whose 163 passing yards were somehow the second-highest total of his seven-game career. The offense has either struggled or been very run-heavy under their young quarterback. Jefferson has 810 yards with four games left, which means he’ll need to average 47.5 per game to get to 1,000.
That should be easy enough, but with 15 total yards over the last two games, it definitely isn’t a sure thing.
