McCarthy's second start a slog as Falcons soar

MINNEAPOLIS -- There were nary fourth-quarter heroics Sunday nighttime for J.J. McCarthy. Instead, the Minnesota Vikings backmost and the remainder of his team's discourtesy slogged done 60 mostly unsmooth minutes successful a 22-6 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

McCarthy's show clarified a fewer facts astir a squad that entered the play with hopes of a heavy playoff run. Most notably, players and coaches said afterwards, the play astir McCarthy volition request to beryllium overmuch better.

"This is going to beryllium a process for our team," manager Kevin O'Connell said. "Our young backmost is going to marque immoderate plays. He's going to marque immoderate unbelievable throws. ... And past different times he's going to person an effort and conscionable miss thing a small long, and we volition spell backmost and effort to hole it. Sometimes the fundamentals are going to beryllium right, the method is going to beryllium right, but he's learning connected the alert close now. The mode you flooded that is by the afloat group's execution level being to a definite modular that we tin spell effort to vie and triumph with."

The Vikings scored 21 points successful the 4th fourth of their Week 1 triumph implicit the Chicago Bears, but successful they person managed conscionable 12 points implicit the different 7 quarters of this young season. McCarthy has taken 9 sacks, including six connected Sunday night. The Falcons intercepted him doubly and helium fumbled 3 times, including doubly erstwhile helium dropped the shot without being hit, and helium mislaid one. His off-target complaint was 28.6%, tied for the second-highest complaint among qualified quarterbacks successful Week 2.

All told implicit his archetypal 2 NFL starts, McCarthy has completed 24 of 41 passes for 301 yards with 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. He has besides rushed 7 times for 50 yards and a touchdown, but his QBR of 20.4 ranks No. 32 of 33 qualified quarterbacks successful the league.

"We've got a batch to do," McCarthy said. "I've got a batch to bash personally. There's a batch of things astir this crippled that amusement up. It's awesome to beryllium portion of specified a large radical wherever I cognize we're going to turn together, I cognize we're going to larn together. There's a batch of emotion successful that locker room. That's what it comes down to. This is simply a agelong season. Everyone is telling maine this is simply a frickin' journey, and I judge them wholeheartedly."

McCarthy played astir of the crippled down a patchwork violative enactment that mislaid halfway Ryan Kelly and near tackle Ryan Skule to concussions. The Falcons pressured him connected 36.7% of his dropbacks, but his mean clip earlier throwing was 3.35 seconds, the highest successful the NFL successful Week 2.

In total, the Vikings' 5 turnovers are tied for the NFL pb and their 30.4% conversion complaint connected 3rd down ranks No. 29 successful the league. As a result, the Vikings person the NFL's lowest mean fig of plays per crippled (47.5), minimizing McCarthy's improvement opportunities.

Sunday nighttime was lone the 4th clip McCarthy has mislaid a commencement dating backmost to his sophomore twelvemonth successful precocious school. His grounds implicit that play present stands astatine 64-4. That's a large crushed wherefore players successful the locker country said they are obscurity adjacent to losing confidence.

"He's built for this," receiver Adam Thielen said. "That's wherefore they fell successful emotion with him successful the draught process, and wherefore we each are truthful assured successful him due to the fact that he's legitimately built for that. It's going to beryllium a process arsenic a team, similar it is each year. You conscionable support going to enactment and learning from the bully things and lea...