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RandBall: Tom Brady gave a thorough breakdown of J.J. McCarthy’s highs and lows vs. the Lions

Seven-time Super Bowl champion QB Tom Brady dissected his fellow Michigan quarterback on Sunday’s Fox broadcast.

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By Michael Rand

The Minnesota Star Tribune
November 3, 2025 at 5:45PM
Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy give Lions wide receiver Dominic Lovett a hug after Minnesota defeated Detroit on Sunday. (Elizabeth Flores/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

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There might be nobody more uniquely qualified and conflicted than Tom Brady to break down J.J. McCarthy’s performance as a quarterback.

Brady is arguably the greatest quarterback of all time, someone who used his intelligence more than raw athletic gifts to become a seven-time Super Bowl champion.

He also went to Michigan, just as McCarthy did, and is a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders — a team that was nudged just out of position to draft a quarterback in 2024 and now resides in QB purgatory with an aging Geno Smith slogging through a poor season.

And, yes, he was the Fox analyst on Sunday’s Vikings game against the Detroit Lions.

Whatever angle he is coming from, though, I’ll give Brady the benefit of the doubt after re-listening to him break down McCarthy’s work during the Vikings’ surprising 27-24 win.

Patrick Reusse and I talked plenty about the game on Monday’s “Daily Delivery” podcast.

I’ll detail what I thought were Brady’s best points at the outset of today’s 10 things to know:

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  • Brady praised McCarthy’s work on the Vikings’ first two drives, both of which ended in touchdowns. He credited McCarthy with checking into a quick bubble screen to Aaron Jones on third-and-10 that led to a Vikings first down on their first drive.
    • On the second drive, after talking about how McCarthy needed to become more of a passer instead of just a thrower — meaning he needed to work on his touch — Brady credited the Vikings QB for lofting a deep ball that Jordan Addison hauled in for a first down. He also praised McCarthy’s TD pass to T.J. Hockenson, noting that the tight end was not the Vikings’ primary target on the play.
      • The middle of the game, though, showed how McCarthy is still a work-in-progress and how the margins for success in the NFL are razor-thin. McCarthy opened the Vikings’ fourth drive with an unsuccessful scramble after Brady thought he could have hit Justin Jefferson for a nice gain. And on a drive before halftime, when McCarthy was intercepted while targeting Jalen Nailor, Brady had his sharpest critique: “Slightly behind him on the back hip. Had him open. ... That’s just a ‘D’ throw when it’s behind him like that.”
        • On the Vikings’ first drive after halftime, Brady praised McCarthy’s 7-yard run and for going down before getting hit but immediately docked him for poor technique on a third-and-3 pass that sailed out of reach for Nailor on what would have been an easy first down.
          • That was followed by a botched QB-center exchange on the next drive, turning a second-and-5 into a third-and-7 that eventually led to a punt after a Jefferson first-down catch was overturned. Brady talked about how a more veteran QB would have recognized that his center had a big post-snap responsibility on the play and made sure to secure the exchange.
            • Brady showed he had done his homework on the next drive when McCarthy rifled a sideline pass to Addison. “This is the one route I’ve seen J.J. McCarthy throw so decisively this season,” Brady said, which is true, even extending back to training camp.
              • After that drive, which ended with a McCarthy TD run, Brady did an extended overview of what he had seen in the game. “He’s doing a lot that we can actually see when the ball is snapped. But he’s doing a lot before the snap and that tells me Kevin O’Connell is putting a lot of trust in him to get them in and out of the right plays,” Brady said. “So many positives from what I’ve seen here today. Accurate throws. Good decisions. Good times to throw the ball away.”
                • And of course the praise continued when McCarthy hit Nailor to seal the game late. “The second-year QB when they need him most. What a throw. That’s how you lead your team to victory. … That’s just a no-fear throw."
                  • When McCarthy said postgame that there was “meat left on the bone,” he was almost certainly referring to those middle-of-the-game drives when the Vikings could have taken even more control. That said, a young QB is going to be inconsistent by nature. The most heartening thing the Vikings have learned in McCarthy’s three NFL starts is that he seems to save his best work for the biggest moments.
                    • Reusse and I talked about many other suddenly winning Minnesota teams on Monday’s podcast, but Tuesday’s show will be heavy on the Vikings again with Andrew Krammer’s film review.
                      about the writer

                      about the writer

                      Michael Rand

                      Columnist / Reporter

                      Michael Rand is the Minnesota Star Tribune's Digital Sports Senior Writer and host/creator of the Daily Delivery podcast. In 25 years covering Minnesota sports at the Minnesota Star Tribune, he has seen just about everything (except, of course, a Vikings Super Bowl).

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