J.J. McCarthy is unlikely to start the Minnesota Vikings’ regular season opener and Saturday probably didn’t change that.
But McCarthy, the 10th overall pick in his NFL preseason debut, gave the Vikings a lot to look forward to in a 24-23 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
McCarthy made some mistakes, most notably a bad interception on his first drive, but rebounding from that mistake adds to the positive vibes from McCarthy’s performance. McCarthy had some fantastic throws. McCarthy played a bit past the halfway mark of the third quarter, and completed 11-of-17 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns. The highlight that can really get Vikings fans excited happened in the second half when McCarthy threw a beautiful deep ball to Trishton Jackson for a smooth 45-yard touchdown. McCarthy hit Jackson perfectly in stride.
That came long after Raiders starters on defense had taken a seat. In the regular season, against starters, that window between the safety and cornerback might not be as wide open. But it’s OK to be excited about a really nice throw for a rookie QB. It’s especially promising because a knock on McCarthy before the draft was his ability to throw downfield to his left (via the scouting report of Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice). McCarthy added to his strong day by hitting Trent Sherfield on a 33-yard touchdown the possession after the Jackson touchdown. No matter that plenty of the best plays came against backups, McCarthy’s highlights looked good.
The problem for McCarthy wasn’t his overall performance or even that bad interception he had right away, when he telegraphed a pass that Raiders cornerback Jack Jones broke on and picked off. It’s that Sam Darnold didn’t do much to lose the job. The Vikings have maintained that they’d like McCarthy to sit and learn behind Darnold for a while, and Darnold was solid on Saturday in his limited action.
Darnold made some confident throws on his first drive. He looked comfortable in the pocket and moved the Vikings down inside the Raiders’ 5-yard line. But he did throw incomplete on third and fourth down, which put a damper on an otherwise decent outing. He completed 4-of-8 passes for 59 yards on his lone drive and looked capable.
McCarthy’s day didn’t start so well. McCarthy completed his first pass over the middle, but then missed on his second and made a big mistake on his third. He threw to a well-covered receiver and it was picked off. It was an ill-advised rookie throw.
McCarthy did rebound on Minnesota’s next drive, standing in right before he was hit hard and delivering a nice pass to Trishton Jackson for a 24-yard gain. He had another very nice throw to Jackson for 21 yards on the following drive too. He had some rookie mistakes but the positives outweighed them.
It still seems unlikely McCarthy will be the Vikings’ starter by Week 1, but he has plenty of time to impress the coaching staff and perhaps put pressure on their decision. Either way, the first look at McCarthy should have a lasting impression.
The Titans are undergoing a identity change with Brian Callahan taking over as head coach. The starters got a couple of drives against the San Francisco 49ers, and the early returns were good.
Will Levis was decent, with mostly short passes. He completed 4-of-5 passes for 35 yards. He did take a hit on a run near the goal line, which Titans coaches had to hate in a preseason game. But it speaks to Levis’ competitiveness. He scored on a quarterback sneak later in the drive.
At running back the Titans have promised new addition Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears will both play big roles and that was the case in the preseason opener. Pollard had 35 yards on four carries and 11 yards on two catches. Spears played with the starters too and while he had two yards on three carries, one of the carries was a nifty touchdown with two great cuts to get in the end zone.
Calvin Ridley played his first snaps with the Titans and had a nice play, breaking loose to pick up a first down on a third-and-10 play. As DeAndre Hopkins deals with a knee injury, Hopkins might be the focal point of the passing game early in the season.
The Titans starting offense scored touchdowns on each of their drives. That’s a good first step in the Callahan era.
Standout player: Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow
Joe Burrow took his first preseason snaps since 2021. They were also his first snaps since suffering a season-ending wrist injury against the Baltimore Ravens last season. Burrow’s recovery has been a story over the offseason but he looked good on Saturday.
Burrow was expected to play just one series, but since he was efficient it was a long series and he got to throw it often. He had two incompletions; one was a throwaway and the other was a pretty nice pass. Burrow threw deep and it was a strong and accurate throw to Tee Higgins, but Higgins was double covered and the pass was knocked loose. Despite the incompletion the throw was a positive. On the next play, Burrow threw a dart over the middle to Andrei Iosivas for a 23-yard gain and a first down. Another intermediate throw on third-and-17 drew a defensive pass interference call. The drive ended with Higgins catching a short pass, making a nice move to the inside and scoring a touchdown. It was good to see Burrow look like himself, and it was good to see Higgins be productive after a down 2023 season.
Burrow completed 5-of-7 passes for 51 yards and a touchdown. Better than the stats, he looked like he had never hurt his wrist. The reports on Burrow in camp have been good as he comes back from surgery, and we all got to see him shine on Saturday.
Other games
New York Jets 20, Washington Commanders 17: The highlight was Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels’ debut, and a pretty 42-yard pass on his first drive. But another rookie, Jets running back Braelon Allen, stood out too. Allen had 54 yards on six carries. The Jets might have found a promising backup to Breece Hall with their fourth-round pick.
Chicago Bears 33, Buffalo Bills 6: Caleb Williams’ debut had everyone buzzing, but it was interesting to see Khalil Herbert’s usage at running back. D’Andre Swift was a big offseason signing and had a nice gain on a 42-yard screen pass from Williams, but Herbert got most of the typical tailback duties with the starters. Herbert had nine carries and gained 31 yards on them. Swift had just one carry. The backfield distribution is a story to watch through August.
Green Bay Packers 23, Cleveland Browns 10: The newly minted highest paid player in NFL history, Jordan Love, seems ready for the regular season.
A 65-yard touchdown was Love’s last pass of the day. He was lifted after one drive. It’s not like he needs to prove anything this month.
On the other end of that long touchdown pass was Dontayvion Wicks, who showed a lot late last season as a rookie and is fighting for playing time in a crowded receiving corps this season. He has the talent to force his way into a mostly full-time role.
Kansas City Chiefs at Jacksonville Jaguars: Andy Reid is old school when it comes to the preseason, and as such we get to see the Chiefs stars play in August. It was fun seeing Patrick Mahomes completing passes. Travis Kelce caught one for 7 yards. Isiah Pacheco had three touches.
The Jaguars also used starters. They got a short field due to a long kickoff return from Parker Washington, and Trevor Lawrence hit Travis Etienne Jr. for a short touchdown catch. Mahomes and the Chiefs starters were lifted after one series but Lawrence and the Jaguars starters got two. Lawrence did take a fourth-down sack on his second drive, which the Jaguars couldn’t have been happy to see, but it was good to get a glimpse from each team’s stars before they called it a night.
Seattle Seahawks at Los Angeles Chargers: Neither starting quarterback played. Geno Smith sat it out and Justin Herbert is dealing with a foot injury. There was a lot of Sam Howell, the former Commanders quarterback who the Seahawks acquired this offseason. He completed 10-of-20 passes in the first half for just 60 yards, but did have a touchdown and no interceptions.
New Orleans Saints at Arizona Cardinals: Marvin Harrison Jr. played but it was entirely uneventful. He appeared on the first series, which ended in a three-and-out, and didn’t get a target. At least Cardinals fans could finally see his jersey. Kyler Murray did not play at all.
Derek Carr and the starting offense played two series for the Saints. Carr completed just 2-of-6 passes for 12 yards in the brief appearance.
Final thoughts
• The Raiders’ quarterback competition between Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew might drag on all month. Both quarterbacks showed some good things in the preseason opener.
O’Connell started and made some nice plays. He completed 7-of-9 passes for 76 yards on his only drive. The blemish was taking a sack on third-and-goal. After that drive, Minshew got the rest of the half.
Minshew did what he usually does and looked like a solid professional. He had the Raiders moving. His touchdown pass to DJ Turner was probably his best throw of the day. He had another 44-yard pass to Tre Tucker downfield that was a little inaccurate but Tucker made a nice adjustment on. Minshew’s first two series resulted in two Raiders touchdowns. His third drive ended with a field goal. He completed 6-of-12 passes for 117 yards.
There didn’t seem to be too much separation between the two on Saturday, but the good news is that both of them had positive moments.
• 49ers running back Jordan Mason is battling Elijah Mitchell to be the backup to Christian McCaffrey, and he had a good preseason opener. Mason started the game with Mitchell out due to injury, and had 34 yards on six carries. He also ran very hard on a touchdown to end the first drive.
There’s a lot left to the preseason but Mason made a statement in the opener.
• The Bills played their starting offense for a quarter. The first pass from Josh Allen went right to Khalil Shakir, who is coming off an efficient season and has had a lot of buzz in camp. Shakir had three catches for 28 yards. The Bills have a big void at receiver after trading Stefon Diggs to Houston, and perhaps Shakir can help fill it.
• The Vikings gave up a lot to move up in the draft and take pass rusher Dallas Turner with the 17th pick of the first round. They had to be pleased with what they saw Saturday.
Turner had two explosive pass rushes on the Raiders’ first possession. He almost got to Aidan O’Connell on a third-down rush, hitting O’Connell just after he released the ball to a wide open Brock Bowers. If Bowers wasn’t so wide open it probably would have been a sack. Turner got his sack later. On third-and-goal he got to O’Connell and brought him down. Both times Turner beat left tackle Andrus Peat, a veteran of 102 career starts with the New Orleans Saints.
• Chase Brown got all of the running back work with the Bengals starting offense, but Zack Moss didn’t play. Brown had 10 yards on five carries but there’s still little clarity on the pecking order at tailback for Cincinnati.
• Brian Thomas Jr. might have been overshadowed by other rookie receivers that were first-round picks, but he could be a big part of the Jaguars’ offense right away. He had a nice play on a 41-yard gain.
Thomas should crack the Jaguars’ receiver rotation right away with Christian Kirk and new addition Gabe Davis, who had a 20-yard catch in the preseason opener.
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