For the first time in the 2025 NFL season, the Minnesota Vikings have fallen to a sub-.500 record after their loss to the Los Angeles Chargers to open Thursday Night Football in Week 8. Unfortunately, it wasn’t even a remotely competitive affair, as the Chargers eviscerated Minnesota to the tune of 37-10, dominating in every facet of the game.
After going 14-3 last year, it was a brutal fall from grace for the Vikings.
With a chance of making the playoffs slipping out of their grasp, the team needs a way to rebound in a major way, and quickly. The injuries to the offensive line, already a bottom-10 unit in the league according to PFSN’s Offensive Line Impact, aren’t going away anytime soon. Instead, head coach Kevin O’Connell is going to try to fix the other major issue for the team, the quarterback play.
Who Will Start at Quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings in Week 9?
Despite Sam Darnold having a career resurgence with them last season, the team chose to part ways with him and go for J.J. McCarthy as the starting quarterback for a new season. Through the first two weeks, it was a rough go as the team went 1-1.
However, an ankle sprain sidelined him after the game, with Carson Wentz taking over the starting job for the next six weeks. Going 2-3 in that span, it hasn’t been a great outing from the former Philadelphia Eagles superstar.
That came to a tipping point in Week 8, when Wentz had arguably his worst game of the season against Los Angeles. Throwing for just 144 yards and a touchdown, he cost the team one interception, as the offense failed to cross 200 total yards.
After the game, though, O’Connell had an update about what the situation could look like next week under center. After an initial diagnosis of six weeks at the maximum, McCarthy should be in line for a return next week.
As Underdog reported on X, “If JJ’s healthy, JJ will play. That’s been the case since the injury,” was the message from the reigning Coach of the Year about his former first-round pick.
HC O’Connell on if JJ McCarthy (ankle) will start in Week 9:
“If JJ’s healthy, JJ will play. That’s been the case since the injury.”
— Underdog NFL (@UnderdogNFL) October 24, 2025
With their playoff odds dropping by the minute, it is going to be a tall order for the Vikings to find themselves back in the postseason hunt. The hope has to be that McCarthy can be the difference maker they believed they were drafting in the first place.
