Heading into their Week 9 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, the Detroit Lions owned the top-ranked defense in the NFL by DVOA, and they were squaring off against second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who hadn’t taken a snap since Week 2 of the 2025 season after missing the entirety of his rookie campaign.

McCarthy’s short NFL résumé has been a roller coaster whenever he’s been healthy enough to play. He rebounded from a brutal start in his debut against the Chicago Bears with a fourth-quarter surge that earned him NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors, then followed it up in Week 2 by completing 11 of 21 throws for 158 yards, no touchdowns, two picks, and a 37.5 passer rating in a 22-6 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. That was the game in which he sprained his ankle and was sidelined until this weekend.

At 3-4 and sitting at the bottom of the NFC North, the Vikings desperately needed McCarthy to deliver in his return — and he did just that. His performance wasn’t flawless, with only 14 completions on 25 attempts for 143 yards, but he added two touchdown passes, one interception, and a rushing score, which proved to be the deciding factor in Minnesota’s 27-24 win.

McCarthy sealed the win with 1:41 left by dropping a back-shoulder fade to receiver Jalen Nailor, converting the first down that allowed the Vikings to take a knee and finish the game.

The former Michigan standout drew recognition from another Wolverines legend — Tom Brady, who was in the broadcast booth beside Kevin Burkhardt on FOX Sports and spoke glowingly about McCarthy’s command.

“He’s doing a ton of things you can notice as soon as the ball is snapped,” Brady said on air. “But what stands out even more is what he’s doing before the snap. That tells me Kevin O’Connell really trusts him to get the offense into the right looks.”

“That scrambling touchdown? That’s easy stuff for him — he’s been doing that since high school. The challenging parts are running the huddle, getting the play set, sorting out protections, then delivering accurate throws.”

“Other than the one bad pass behind Nailor on the interception, there are so many positives. Smart throws, smart decisions, knowing when to toss it away. He’s giving this team the lift it needed in a place that’s very hard to win.”

High praise coming from the quarterback widely considered the greatest pre-snap processor in NFL history — and it helped move the Vikings to an even record with a major divisional win.

According to Next Gen Stats, the Lions racked up 18 pressures and five sacks on McCarthy, tying for the second-highest pressure rate by any defense this season (58.1%).

Detroit’s pass rush especially thrived on the blitz, producing nine pressures and two sacks on 13 extra-man rushes. Yet even under heat, McCarthy connected on 7 of 11 passes for 91 yards and a touchdown when blitzed.