J.J. McCarthy was one drive away from a night to remember at MetLife Stadium. The New York Giants quarterback completed 23 of 36 passes for a career-high 293 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and ran six times for 34 yards.

However, the Washington Commanders still left with a 24-21 win Thursday night after Rasul Douglas picked him off on the Giants’ final drive. McCarthy’s big night also turned the reaction toward his old team.

The Minnesota Vikings traded McCarthy, their 2024 first-round pick, to New York for a fifth-round pick on Sept. 28. They then brought back Kirk Cousins in a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders at the trade deadline, two days before Thursday Night Football. Against that backdrop, Chat Sports’ Patrick Siepman and several fans put the pressure squarely on Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell.

NFL Fans Call Out Kevin O’Connell as J.J. McCarthy Shines in Giants’ TNF Loss

McCarthy’s longest completion of the night came midway through the fourth quarter with the Giants trailing 17-14. On the third play of a drive that began at New York’s 31, he found tight end Isaiah Likely for a 66-yard touchdown and a 21-17 lead.

The lead held until the final minute. Jayden Daniels moved the Commanders 71 yards in 49 seconds and hit Stefon Diggs for a 32-yard touchdown with 57 seconds to go. The Giants needed only a field goal to tie. However, their last possession, which began at their own 31 with 57 seconds left, ended four plays later when Douglas intercepted McCarthy.

Siepman minced no words about what McCarthy’s play meant for O’Connell. “Pressure is mounting for Kevin O’Connell. J.J. McCarthy is absolutely ballin’. No player or coach is under more pressure than KOC.”

McCarthy made 10 starts for the Vikings in 2025, a season in which Pro Football Network’s NFL QB Impact Grade ranked him 34th of 38 quarterbacks at 66.1. Through Week 10 of this season, his Impact Grade sits at 74.2, 18th of 36 QBs.

One fan widened the target beyond the Vikings’ head coach, writing, “Kevin O’Connell, Wes Phillips, and Josh McCown have always been the problem. It was never J.J. McCarthy.”

This fan answered Siepman directly: “The ‘QB Whisperer.'”

Another fan aimed a post at O’Connell and the Minnesota Vikings.

However, the bluntest warning came from this fan, who wrote, “Kevin O’Connell. Your seat is very hot. You have no choice but to win the bowl after axing this guy.”

The Vikings have started two quarterbacks this season. Kyler Murray, who signed as a free agent in the offseason, has six starts with five touchdown passes and three interceptions. Carson Wentz made the other two, including a start against the Buffalo Bills in place of Murray, who had a hamstring injury, when Wentz went 8-of-25 with no touchdowns and two interceptions.

Cousins, 38, played for O’Connell in 2022 and 2023.

Through all of it, the Vikings are 6-2 and third in the NFC North.

Notably, nine different players have started at quarterback for Minnesota since Week 8 of 2023, counting Cousins, who tore his Achilles in that game. Sam Darnold made 17 of those starts in 2024, and McCarthy made 10 in 2025.