J.J. McCarthy shines in primetime as Vikings upset Cowboys

ARLINGTON Texas There wasn t anything for the Vikings to play for against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night at AT T Stadium Any hopes of making the playoffs went out the window a limited hours before kickoff when the Chicago Bears beat the Cleveland Browns That didn t stop quarterback J J McCarthy from putting together the best encounter of his career while leading the Vikings to a - triumph He completed of passes for yards and a pair of touchdowns through the air while adding another touchdown on the ground It was exactly the type of performance the Vikings needed to see from their young signal caller It had gone so far off the rails for McCarthy at different points this season that it was fair to wonder if he was going to be able to get the train back on the tracks The fact that he indicated improvement last weekend in a win over the Washington Commanders was notable The fact that he followed it up with an even better showing this weekend in a win over the Cowboys was proof of progress Maybe the most of impressive part of McCarthy s outing was how he responded after throwing an interception on his first pass of the tournament The ability to bounce back in the immediate aftermath is a microcosm of the mental toughness McCarthy has displayed amid his fresh turnaround It s also a reason to believe he could be the face of the franchise the Vikings so desperately want him to be After receiving the opening kickoff the Vikings ran the ball once then opted to have McCarthy let it rip With star receiver Justin Jefferson open near the sticks for what would ve been a first down McCarthy s pass got tipped near the line of scrimmage then intercepted by defensive tackle Quinnen Williams It looked like the Cowboys had stalled out on the ensuing possession until they dialed up a fake field goal with holder Bryan Anger blindly flipping a ball over his shoulder to kicker Brandon Aubrey who picked up the first down with his legs That earned the Cowboys a new set of downs and paved the way for running back Javonte Williams to plunge into the end zone to make it - You couldn t have scripted a worse start for the Vikings and it looked like the championship might get out of hand after they stalled out on the next drive The tide turned when punter Ryan Wright flipped the field on special teams paving the way for the defense to force a punt before the offense conclusively got itself going with a couple of chunk plays The drive ended with McCarty rolling to his left and delivering a strike to Jalen Nailor to help the Vikings pull even at - On the heels of the Cowboys getting a touchdown from running back Malik Davis to make it - the Vikings then presented the type of response that they have lacked for much of this season It started with McCarthy finding Jordan Addison over the top for a -yard gain It continued when McCarthy fooled everybody kept the ball on a naked bootleg and showboated into the end zone to tie the championship at - After both teams traded field goal the Vikings and the Cowboys went into halftime tied - Though the Vikings struggled to move the ball coming out of the locker room the Cowboys couldn t find the end zone themselves settling for a couple of field goals to make it - That left the door open for McCarthy and he in the end led a sustained drive to put the Vikings in front He rode the roller coaster along the way with a mixture of perfectly placed passes and bafflingly errant misses There was a particular stretch in which McCarthy missed Jefferson running wide open over the middle then followed it up by dropping a dime to Nailor It culminated with fullback C J Ham finding pay dirt to put the Vikings in front - After a missed field goal by the Cowboys on the other end the Vikings made a report taking complete control when McCarthy uncovered Nailor for another touchdown to stretch the lead to - In the final minutes of the battle Will Reichard nailed a clutch field goal to put the Vikings in front - A desperation field goal from the Cowboys finalized the figure at - After the Vikings recovered the onside kick McCarthy trotted back onto the field and rightfully got to take a knee and run out the clock Related Articles Frederick Congratulations to whichever NFL unit hires Brian Flores to be its next head coach Frederick With the Vikings eliminated from the playoffs should they tank It s not that easy Aaron Jones gets pseudo homecoming as Vikings play Cowboys Vikings at Cowboys What to know ahead of Week matchup Vikings picks Can Minnesota slow down Dak Prescott