During Sunday’s 27-24 upset victory at Detroit (5-3), Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy became just the third quarterback drafted in the first round to win two road divisional games within his first three career starts since at least 1970, joining Hall of Famer Dan Marino and Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes.
Not bad company for the 22-year-old Michigan Man, especially after missing five games over a six-week span with a high-ankle sprain. McCarthy finished his first outing since Week 2 by going 14-of-25 passing for 143 yards and threw two touchdowns and a pick. He added 12 yards on the ground on nine carries, highlighted by a 9-yard score in the third quarter, to go along with a passer rating of 82.6.
Although it wasn’t a record-breaking day statistically, McCarthy did become the first player in league history to record at least two touchdown passes and one rushing touchdown in two of his first three career games. Incredibly, both instances have occurred on the road against divisional opponents (Week 1 at Chicago; Week 9 at Detroit) with the same stats (143 passing yards, three total touchdowns, one interception) and score (27-24 victories for Minnesota).
Another unique feat McCarthy set on Sunday? Both of his touchdown passes came on the Vikings first two drives of the game – something he never achieved in a game while attending Michigan. McCarthy also joined some exclusive territory in franchise history with his strong start against the Lions. He became just the fifth Vikings quarterback since 2000 to throw two touchdown passes on the team’s first two drives of a game, joining Daunte Culpepper (one time in 2002), Brett Favre (one time in 2009), Kirk Cousins (one time in 2019) and Sam Darnold (three times in 2024).
With the win, the Vikings (4-4) not only snapped a two-game losing streak (and a five-game skid against the Lions), they also moved just 1.5 games behind Green Bay for the NFC North lead. The victory also helped Minnesota move up in this week’s Power Rankings, with the biggest jump being five spots. Here’s a look at where the Vikings landed heading into Week 10:
