Ryan Clark hails J.J. McCarthy’s POISE AND COMPOSURE in Vikings’ MNF win | SC with SVP

Ryan Clark hails J.J. McCarthy’s POISE AND COMPOSURE in Vikings’ MNF win | SC with SVP

[Music] JJ McCarthy, you know, clearly just a, you know, I felt, you know, the thing is I felt poised from the very beginning. Um, I didn’t necessarily think our entire group u with some of the things that transpired where we were really close on some things that could have changed the game a little bit. A lot of yardage that we got uh via some penalties there, but uh you know, just didn’t do a good enough job sustaining uh you know, obviously converting third downs early on was an issue to be able to get drives going. Um but JJ McCarthy for him to make some of the plays he did um I told him at halftime you are going to bring us back to win this game um and the look in his eye was fantastic and um the best thing is just the belief I felt from the team the unit um and and ultimately u that doesn’t get done without him in the second half two passing touchdowns and then the critical uh rushing touchdown you know at the end Ryan Clark alongside and I just sat here and told Justin Jefferson how much I I appreciate his head coach, but he just sat there and lied to everybody and told everybody how close they were early on. I mean, I’m kidding. I’m kidding. But they did not appear close. The pick six and it’s 17-6 and it it felt like a wrap and then as drastically as a game can turn, Ryan, it did. What happened? I mean, it turned fast and you mentioned it when you were talking to Jedi, right? the offensive line started to gel and they got the run game going, but to me it was the way that JJ McCarthy was able to execute in the red zone. The first touchdown to Justin Jefferson was masterful planning. And so now you’re going to see here, we’re going to get a motion. And from the motion, they’re going to create a bunch. So if we let the play run until they get into the bunch, we can now see how the route combination helped them get open. And so now once they get into the bunch, we’re going to have a clear out here which is going to take away one of the defenders. And so when the defenders goes now, it’s going to be isolated on Kevin Bard. Kevin Bard is going to end up being on top of Justin Jefferson who is going to cross his face. And when Jefferson crosses his face, Bernard is behind. And then JJ McCarthy layers a perfect throw. Now, as you watch the play unfold, we’re going to get one defender to go across the field. Kevin Byer’s hips are open now. We saw Justin Jefferson cross his face. Great throw low and away by JJ McCarthy. We listened to Scott talk earlier about the little hesitation from Aaron Jones. Here they going to be right now. We’re going to work one-on-one with this backer because we’re going to have manto man. We’re going to get a clear route here by Hawinson. Hawinson’s going to make sure he gives him some room and then we’re going to push up the field on the post because there’s man-to-man coverage. The corner is going to be gone as well, which gives us the isolation in the middle of the field. And we’ll get to see the stutter by Aaron Jones, which opens it up. Okay, so now we’re right here and we’re waiting for him to go. Aaron Jones going to give you the stutter and then move up the field. A good hesitation by JJ McCarthy in the pocket and he’s able to push the ball downfield for the easy throw and the easy catch. I thought it was amazing to watch them not only understand ways to schematically get their guys open, but JJ McCarthy having the poise, having the composure, and the patience to wait on those throws. When you throw an interception or when you’re being pressured throughout the night, sometimes you start to speed up. JJ McCarthy didn’t allow the Chicago Bears to do that to him late in the second half. And that coincides with Minnesota’s defense getting pressure on Williams, sacking Williams, inability to run. And I mean whether you buy momentum or not, the energy in here changes entirely. And this city which wants so desperately to believe both in its quarterback and its new coach is sitting here thinking are is this happening again? And it ends with them booing their team off the field. You know, to to boo on night one uh is a little drastic, right? But that’s sports. You talked about it early on. We’re all so logical when we’re fans, right? When we’re fanatics. We’re also patient. But for Caleb Williams, I think part of it was he did start this game 10 for 10. He was moving in the back field, creating plays with his legs, and then we watched that dissipate as the night goes on. It was almost as if he started to get comfortable, and now he fell back into some of those bad habits that we saw from last year. Minnesota began to stuff the run. They began to put pressure on Caleb Williams. And instead of him getting the football out of his hands, he started to try to create with his athleticism. And I think they were just off of rhythm. And we talked about it on the on our new Superhub, right? We were talking about momentum. Yeah. And the fact that you could feel the momentum shifting in the stadium. Caleb Williams and the offense never found a play to stop the bleeding. And sometimes you just got to get that first down, get that drive to give your defense a chance to catch a breath and to give yourself something to be encouraged about. In watching, and it’s a totally different circumstance, but in watching Washington play New York on Sunday, you saw a game that was 14-6 for a lot of it. And New York had a difficult time, their own line struggling, and Wilson was struggling and and they couldn’t get anything moving offensively. But Washington had the ability to finally get that 21 to6 score. you know, all right, there’s no way the Giants are scoring twice, let alone once. But Chicago couldn’t get that score to put this thing away after that. It’s 17 to6. And the fact that Minnesota once they got that one, it felt like the entire energy changed and now Chicago all of a sudden it’s like, oh, we better do something and if we don’t, we might be in trouble. And then the next thing you know, they’re behind. Does that feel like you’re describing what you saw? It felt like panic set in. That’s kind of what I’m saying. there there was almost a comfort in how well they played early and then once the game got close, once the game got tight, it felt like they started to question whether or not they should win and that they had did they have the goods to win the game, right? And then for the longest it looked like Minnesota, okay, we they’re not going to do anything. But then once they did once like being in a fight, you get punched like, oh no. I asked I asked pregame, who would respond to adversity? When JJ McCarthy and the Minnesota Vik Vikings hit adversity, they found an answer. They went a little deeper into their emotional tank and made plays. Chicago did. It’s not cliche. It’s real. And you saw it in this football game. And that’s why Minnesota gets this victory. And for all of you, there’s some people out there that are trying to erase their erase their tweets because my goodness, y’all were burying this rookie, not rookie, first year, first start for the second year. Man, you [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

After head coach Kevin O’Connell speaks with reporters following the Vikings’ 27-24 win, Ryan Clark joins SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt to break down the keys to Minnesota’s comeback over the Chicago Bears.

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