{"id":361487,"date":"2025-09-12T06:50:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T06:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/361487\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T06:50:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T06:50:13","slug":"mccarthy-heads-into-home-debut-for-vikings-in-prime-time-matchup-against-penix-falcons-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/361487\/","title":{"rendered":"McCarthy heads into home debut for Vikings in prime-time matchup against Penix, Falcons"},"content":{"rendered":"

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) \u2014 J.J. McCarthy finished his first game for the Minnesota Vikings with a flourish<\/a>, refusing to let early struggles sidetrack his focus in the daunting environment of a night game on the road against a division rival.<\/p>\n

He gets to play at home this time, with the hero\u2019s welcome that will surely be a part of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cExtremely excited to hear that \u2018Skol\u2019 chant, just feel that energy, that exuberant environment,\u201d McCarthy said, referencing the hands-over-heads clap Vikings fans have established as a rhythmic ritual that crescendos right before kickoff.<\/p>\n

After rallying from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter at Soldier Field to beat the Chicago Bears 27-24<\/a> and commence their first season with McCarthy as the starting quarterback<\/a>, the Vikings host the Atlanta Falcons in their home opener on Sunday night<\/a>. <\/p>\n

McCarthy, who had meniscus repair surgery on his right knee last year that kept him out for the entirety of his rookie season, has played in two exhibitions at U.S. Bank Stadium, no-stakes games with nothing quite like the prime-time buzz that will encircle the 10th overall pick in the 2024 draft when he first steps on the turf.<\/p>\n

If playing his first NFL game in his hometown in the face of heckling from a loud crowd, an interception return for a Bears touchdown, and a total of 85 yards by the Vikings offense through three quarters didn\u2019t overwhelm McCarthy, well, the hype from a friendly atmosphere and a national audience for the league\u2019s biggest weekly showcase ought not to distract him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a lot quieter when we have the ball on offense. That\u2019s something that\u2019s going to be great, to be able to operate clean and crisp where everyone knows what they\u2019re doing with no miscommunication,\u201d McCarthy said. \u201cI\u2019m definitely looking forward to a lot of things, just seeing the purple in the stands. At the end of the day, it\u2019s going to be a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

In between his road and home debuts, McCarthy had a far more eventful experience during the week. He left the practice facility for the hospital on Thursday to be with his fianc\u00e9e for the birth of their first child<\/a>, a boy.<\/p>\n

Big night for Penix, too<\/p>\n

Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is just slightly ahead of McCarthy on the NFL learning curve, entering his fifth career start. Taken two spots ahead of McCarthy last year, only six weeks after the Falcons spent $100 million guaranteed in free agency on Kirk Cousins when the Vikings passed on bringing him back, Penix will take his turn on Sunday night playing in unfavorable conditions against a strong pass rush behind a loud crowd.<\/p>\n

Penix replaced Cousins as the starter last season two weeks after Atlanta\u2019s 42-21 loss at Minnesota, which gave him a valuable sideline view of the unorthodox and versatile scheme that defensive coordinator Brian Flores employs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey heated us up a lot last year,\u201d said Penix, who had 298 passing yards and totaled two touchdowns in the season-opening loss to Tampa Bay. \u201cWe\u2019ve just got to make sure we come out ready for anything that they can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The last McCarthy-Penix matchup was on an even bigger stage <\/p>\n

Though it\u2019s ultimately no more than a storytelling angle for the NBC broadcast crew, the game also marks a rematch of sorts of the College Football Playoff national championship following the 2023 season, when McCarthy led Michigan to a 34-13 victory over Penix and Washington. McCarthy and Penix got to know each other during the pre-draft training process last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a genuine guy,\u201d Penix said. \u201cAnd a guy who can make football plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

The admiration is mutual.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s no surprise he\u2019s in the position that he\u2019s in right now. I\u2019m just extremely excited to see him again and compete against him,\u201d McCarthy said. \u201cHe\u2019s a great player, and it\u2019s going to be a good test for our defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

One-sided start for the Falcons<\/p>\n

While the Falcons got their passing game going, they found little success on the ground<\/a>. Pro Bowler Bijan Robinson gained just 24 yards on 12 carries.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t want that first game to deter you as a player and as an offensive unit,\u201d Robinson said. \u201cWe expect something different, and we don\u2019t want that result ever again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jefferson stays steady<\/p>\n

Not even two-time All-Pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson was immune to mistakes for the Vikings during their rough start against the Bears, letting a third-down throw slip through his hands and running a route short of the sticks on a third-down pass he caught. But Jefferson went low to snag McCarthy\u2019s first touchdown throw as a pro, pulling the Vikings within five points, and coach Kevin O\u2019Connell said without prompting how proud he was of Jefferson\u2019s leadership and maturity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a guy who expects to go out there and make a play every single play, and we weren\u2019t necessarily doing the things across the board, myself included, to have the success that we wanted,\u201d O\u2019Connell said. \u201cMaybe at times, people want to see a Gatorade cooler thrown or a bench knocked over or something. It was just about poise. It was about understanding the things that were happening were as much to do with things we could correct by just doing our jobs a little bit better.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NFL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/NFL<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MINNEAPOLIS (AP) \u2014 J.J. McCarthy finished his first game for the Minnesota Vikings with a flourish, refusing to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":361488,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2074],"tags":[223,254,2554,4127,6696,4934,391,224,7,4645,629,1519,2780,6192,294,1879,71,233,259,20187,6,498,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-361487","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-falcons","8":"tag-atlanta","9":"tag-atlanta-falcons","10":"tag-atlantafalcons","11":"tag-bijan-robinson","12":"tag-brian-flores","13":"tag-cfp-national-championship","14":"tag-chicago-bears","15":"tag-falcons","16":"tag-football","17":"tag-ga-state-wire","18":"tag-georgia","19":"tag-j-j-mccarthy","20":"tag-justin-jefferson","21":"tag-kevin-oconnell","22":"tag-kirk-cousins","23":"tag-michael-penix-jr","24":"tag-michigan-wolverines","25":"tag-minnesota","26":"tag-minnesota-vikings","27":"tag-mn-state-wire","28":"tag-nfl","29":"tag-nfl-football","30":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115190001010106592","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}