J.J. McCarthy stepped to the microphone wearing a blue-collar shirt and a winner’s smile. The shirt was old; he got it playing for Michigan football under Jim Harbaugh.
The smile was new.
“I’m a Michigan Man, through and through,” he said of his throwback clothing. “I love this state.”
Could have fooled us. It’s been a while since a former Michigan quarterback returned to rub the Detroit Lions’ faces in defeat. Elvis Grbac did it decades ago. Tom Brady used to do it regularly, but his last visit was in 2020, when he was steering the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl.
On Sunday, Brady was in the broadcast booth at Ford Field as McCarthy, his latest Wolverines successor, made his Detroit pro debut. He’d only played in two NFL games before this one, having missed all last year because of an injury, and the last five games with a high ankle sprain.
But if folks around here somehow thought that meant the Lions would have an easy time, you don’t know J.J. McCarthy.
The kid who once stood against a kitchen wall in his home in La Grange Park, Illinois, just hoping he’d be tall enough to be an NFL quarterback, came out like a giant Sunday, with pinpoint passing and fearless mechanics. Showing the same moxie he’d displayed in a maize and blue uniform, he shredded the Lions defense for touchdown passes on his first two drives. He stood tall against the Detroit pass rush, often beat it, drew penalties on it, and, when it got to him, bounced back up and returned to business.
In the third quarter, he scrambled away from the Detroit defense and ran 9 yards for a touchdown himself.
Mind you, this was his third real game as a pro.
His third game?
“I felt like I went out there 100% today,” he explained, after accounting for all three touchdowns in the Vikings’ 27-24 upset victory, a game in which the Lions had been favored by 8½ points. “I was back to where I left off.”
Where was this McCarthy?
Actually, he was much better. The first two games of his career saw three interceptions against two TDs. On Sunday, he played like it was his 30th game, not his third.
Had he been doing this in Ann Arbor, locals would have relished it. Doing it in Detroit is a different story. It felt weird. Like he should know better than to hurt our feelings.
But the NFL is not college, and this year is not last year for the Lions, who despite a desperate rally in the closing minutes, went down to defeat Sunday because they could not overcome their own mistakes and Minnesota’s doggedness. And they couldn’t overcome McCarthy when they needed to.
On third-and-5, with 1:41 left in the game, McCarthy dropped back and threw a perfect pass to the back shoulder of Jalen Nailor, who pulled it in for a first down gained (Vikings) and a last chance snuffed (Lions.)
Moments later, the kid who led Michigan to a national championship took a knee, the clock ran out, and the Lions had their third loss of the year against five wins.
Welcome back, J.J.
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Not the same Lions
What a house of horrors this was for the Lions. Double-digit penalties. A David Montgomery fumble. A blocked field goal. No running game. Jared Goff sacked five times.
I thought Halloween was last Friday. This game was all trick, no treat.
“It’s been a long time,” Goff said after the defeat, “since we had this feeling of playing kind of poorly in all three phases.”
The way Sunday went, if there was a fourth phase, they would have lost that, too.
The truth is, after a week off, the Lions came back barely recognizable. It was like meeting up with someone who just returned from Brazil with a ton of plastic surgery. Hey, Lions. Did you…lose weight?
Suddenly, Detroit couldn’t run the ball – against a team that is really lousy against the run. Last week the Vikes gave up 207 rushing yards to the Chargers. Detroit had 65 yards Sunday.
Sixty-five yards? With Jahmyr Gibbs and Montgomery healthy? That’s insane. The Lions had 25 yards rushing at halftime; Gibbs often gets that on a single play.
Meanwhile, Detroit was drawing penalties the way Walt Disney drew cartoons: 10 flags for 76 yards. Their offensive line, which had been gelling, couldn’t stop the Vikings pass rush and got leveled by injuries as the game went on.
Goff, under pressure all day, had numerous misthrows. There was no rhythm to the Lions offense after the first TD drive, and their awful third-down efficiency (5-for-17) was exceeded only by the fact that they had 17 third downs in the first place. That means a lot of failed first and second downs.
As for the defense? It was herky-jerky at best, when it wasn’t discombobulated. It earned some sacks but got way too many penalties that resulted in first downs. It was one of those games that the stat sheet lies about. Goff, for example, actually threw for 284 yards, compared to McCarthy’s 143. But there was no question whose yards did the most damage.
Overall, it was a laid egg. What made it worse, is that this was a home game, and one that most experts had already chalked up in the win column when assessing the Lions season.
Which is why they play the games, and don’t just predict them.
Dan Campbell takes the blame
“We did everything we needed to do to lose that game,” a clearly disappointed Dan Campbell said afterwards. “We made every critical error. When you don’t play well in all three phases, it falls on the coach. … I didn’t have them ready coming out of the bye. … (We were) out of sync. We never looked comfortable. We just didn’t make enough plays.”
Well. That about covers it.
Maybe this was karma. The Lions had defeated the Vikings the last five times they’d played. Minnesota was coming off an embarrassing blowout to the Chargers. The Lions were coming off a vacation. As Campbell said, that can be a challenge.
Or maybe the Vikings, with McCarthy in charge, need to be reassessed as an opponent and perhaps worthy candidate for the NFC North crown.
“I just couldn’t sleep (these last few weeks),” McCarthy said of waiting to return to action. “It felt like I was catching this glare from this silver platter, with a juicy opportunity right on top of it.”
OK., that’s a tad poetic, even for a Michigan grad.
But a Vikings rise, at 4-4, would not be great news for Lions fans. It means every team in the division is a threat for the title. As it is, the Lions, now halfway through the season, trail the Packers by half a game, are tied with the Bears, and are just one game ahead of Minnesota – and last place.
“It’s probably one of the worst games we’ve played in a long time. …” Campbell said. “It’s like a slap in the face. You don’t want it to happen. (But) you’re forced to stand there and stare at it.”
Yep. Like staring at a kid you used to cheer for who comes back in his college shirt and punches you in the gut. Hail to the victor may be cool to say on Saturday, but it’s no fun on Sunday. No fun at all.
Contact Mitch Albom: malbom@freepress.com. Check out the latest updates with his charities, books and events at MitchAlbom.com. Follow him @mitchalbom on x.com.
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