J.J. McCarthy will play his first meaningful snaps of football in 20 months when he steps under center for the Vikings on Monday.
Between his national championship victory and his NFL debut in Chicago was a major knee injury and subsequent recovery that resulted in, effectively, a season off from football.
A logical observer would expect maybe some clunkiness and rust out of the gates. Nevermind the extended time off – nerves also could very well factor in for a 22 year old playing on the road on Monday Night Football with the nation watching.
And, yet, Minnesota can’t afford any of that.
The Vikings’ early season schedule ahead of their Week 6 bye looks like a soft runway from which their young quarterback can ascend. Of their first five opponents, only Pittsburgh made the playoffs a year ago. Monday’s bout is the only true road game in that span.
It’s not far-fetched to believe Minnesota – a 14-win team a season ago – could go 4-1 in its first five games, if not 5-0.
The thing is … it may have to. At least if the Vikings plan to contend in what may be the most difficult division in football. Because things get ugly after the bye, where the first four contests read: home vs. Eagles, at the Chargers, at Detroit and back home to take on Baltimore – all playoff teams from a year ago and potential Super Bowl contenders this season.
It doesn’t get much easier from there, as their final seven games feature two border battles against Green Bay, another date with Detroit, road games in Dallas and Seattle and a home bout against the reigning NFC runnerup, Washington.
Rough.
Even if McCarthy is in a strong rhythm come mid-October and the Vikings are a better team than they were a season ago, the schedule is significantly more difficult.
Bumps will be endured. No one faces the league’s best on a week to week basis and emerges unscathed.
But last year’s team was excellent at taking care of business. All four losses came to Detroit and the Rams, a pair of excellent foes. Minnesota consistently handled teams at or below its level. That’s how you guarantee success in a season. The challenge for Minnesota is, on its surface, the “easy” part of the schedule looks to be the early portion of it.
So McCarthy needs to be ready right now. As does Minnesota’s defensive unit, which could be asked to prop up the offense if there are any early sputters. Because that can’t equate to losses. Yes, Monday’s bout in Chicago is just Week 1, which can be called “a liar” in the NFL. Early results often aren’t predictive of season-long success.
But it has been for the Vikings of late. The Vikings are 3-3 in their last six season openers. In the years they started 1-0, they made the playoffs. When they started 0-1, they didn’t.
The slate sets the table for that streak to continue, one way or another. If Minnesota is somehow sub-.500 heading into the bye, there’s little opportunity for it to recover.
It seems as though the Vikings understand the same. They didn’t appear to even consider rolling out a pedestrian wide receiver corps for the first three weeks of the season while Jordan Addison served his suspension. Draft assets were flipped to acquire Adam Thielen. Because early production is paramount.
So, sorry, J.J. The pressure is on directly out of the gates. No, that probably isn’t fair. But it is the reality.
Welcome to the NFL.
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