Souhan: Vikings have a mess on their hands with J.J. McCarthy

Were Vikings fans booing J.J. McCarthy? Or just mispronouncing “Brooo-smer”?

McCarthy might have heard jeers directed at him for the first time in his life Sunday, as his erratic play contributed heavily to the Vikings’ 19-17 loss to the Chicago Bears.

He deserved them, for about 58 minutes …

Then he deserved praise for engineering the touchdown drive that promised to make him 3-for-3 in his brief career against NFC North opponents, with three clutch fourth-quarter performances …

Then he deserved them, again, after the Bears pulled out the victory, because it was McCarthy’s many mistakes that kept Chicago in the game.

Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell declined to say whether he considered putting in backup quarterback Max Brosmer. The question was apt because when McCarthy was bad, he was horrible.

Until the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter, McCarthy was 12-for-27 for 95 yards and no touchdowns with two interceptions.

He has played in five NFL games. He has produced three clutch stretches in the fourth quarters of close games. He has looked like a novice in most other situations.

Which is bizarre. He’s handled pressure situations before, leading Michigan to a national title. He’s in his second season as a pro. No one questions his character or work ethic, yet he makes the most fundamental mistakes possible — failing to set his feet properly, finding open receivers too late, managing the pocket poorly, throwing into defenders’ hands, scrambling into trouble, missing wide-open receivers for no reason other than his own inaccuracy.

At this point, we can’t compare him to other quarterbacks. Good quarterbacks don’t make the fundamental mistakes he makes; bad quarterbacks don’t play their best under the most difficult circumstances.

Instead of comparing him to his peers, we should compare him to … an adorable puppy.

He looked great on the website and at the kennel. He’s easy to fall for, but the housetraining is going to be a nightmare.

“I take full responsibility,” McCarthy said.

One play epitomized McCarthy’s flaws.

Late in the third quarter, with the Vikings trailing 16-3, they faced second-and-2 from their 29-yard line.

O’Connell called for a play-action pass, with Jordan Addison running down the right sideline and Justin Jefferson crossing left to right.

McCarthy faked a handoff to Jordan Mason. McCarthy took a seven-step drop, then bounced three times before seeing Addison and beginning his throwing motion.

The ball fluttered like a short-circuited drone. Two Bears injured each other fighting over it.

Had McCarthy seen Addison and gotten him the ball in stride immediately, it could have been a 71-yard touchdown. A throw to Jefferson could have produced 20 yards. Instead, McCarthy was lucky it wasn’t his third interception of the day.

On the next play, McCarthy missed Jefferson badly, and Jefferson displayed his frustration on the field and again once he reached the sideline.

The Vikings are 4-6, with games at Green Bay and Seattle next on their schedule. It’s hard to imagine them being better than 5-7 in two weeks, and more likely they will be 4-8.

Which means they should double down on the McCarthy experience. For the good of the franchise, they need to find a way to help McCarthy play consistently the way he has played in his best fourth quarters.

This season, like it or not, is dedicated to the development of McCarthy. The Vikings are the proud owners of a puppy, and between the cute moments they’re going to need a lot of bleach.