Carson Wentz reboot gives Vikings a 'point guard QB' who stays out of the way of Brian Flores' defense Charles RobinsonSeptember 22, 2025 at 5:32 AM 0 There were no wild overtheshoulder passes. No beach ball tosses lobbed into triple coverage. No blind tosses while falling backward.
- - Carson Wentz reboot gives Vikings a 'point guard QB' who stays out of the way of Brian Flores' defense
Charles RobinsonSeptember 22, 2025 at 5:32 AM
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There were no wild over-the-shoulder passes. No beach ball tosses lobbed into triple coverage. No blind tosses while falling backward. And not a single nightmarish pick 6 or anything close to it.
Instead, Carson Wentz was simple and steady on Sunday in a 48-10 blowout victory against the visiting Cincinnati Bengals. He went through his reads, found open opportunities and never wandered off script. All of this had the Minnesota Vikings' offense moving efficiently and staying out of the way of the defense and coordinator Brian Flores.
For Wentz's role as a trusted backup quarterback, it was good. For a Vikings franchise that needed to settle down from the volatile highs and lows of first-time starter J.J. McCarthy, it was even better.
"[He] came in and played point guard for us," Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell said of the 32-year-old Wentz, who set an NFL record by starting a game for his sixth different team in six consecutive seasons. "Ran the show, was efficient, he made great decisions, he got through his progressions and did a lot of things to help the Minnesota Vikings win today."
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It's something you couldn't always say about the first eight quarters of McCarthy, who is nursing a high ankle sprain and not expected to play again prior to Week 4. While O'Connell wasn't necessarily talking about his second-year quarterback, who took over for the departed Sam Darnold this season, there were at least some lessons McCarthy can take away from Wentz's day against the Bengals. And the first one is this: If you can't always lead the way, sometimes you can win games by just not being in the way.
Over the course of his career, Wentz has learned that one the hard way. It cost him his career with the Philadelphia Eagles, where the coaching staff spent years trying to retool his mechanics and then his decision-making. Then it cost him a reboot with the Indianapolis Colts, where some on the staff felt he was hard-headed and refused to change habits. And all along the way, from the Eagles to the Colts and through a stint with the Washington Commanders — seven years of his NFL career — there were questions about Wentz trying to do too much, when coaches had asked him to simply manage the offense built around him.
On Sunday, for a game, it clicked — the notion of just taking what is given and letting other parts of the team carry the day. The Vikings' defense, under the guidance of Flores, continued to look capable of being the best unit in the NFL. It produced four sacks, constant quarterback pressure, five turnovers and two touchdowns from cornerback Isaiah Rodgers, who returned an interception and strip-fumble for scores. It was the kind of performance that restored stability in a Minnesota franchise (and offense) that felt shockingly off-kilter after last week's 22-6 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
"This is the feeling that we chase," O'Connell said afterward. "Now we've got to go back to work and start checking the box of being a consistent football team showing up on game day. … It showed some growth and maturity. The ability to come back and put a performance like that together really in all three phases is very encouraging for the future."
And for the moment, it's also at least slightly encouraging at the quarterback spot. Not because it guarantees that the Vikings have some kind of answer if McCarthy turns out to be a far bigger project than expected. And not because is assures that Wentz has had some kind of breakthrough that has eluded him for most of his career.
It's encouraging because we've seen O'Connell work with this kind of situation in the past with his quarterbacks, particularly ones who have gotten beaten up going through their own mental and physical walls. Kirk Cousins was that guy at one point with the Vikings. Sam Darnold was absolutely that guy. And even on a limited snapshot, so was Josh Dobbs. If a veteran quarterback is willing to listen to O'Connell, he will make some kind of strides, especially if that quarterback brings some talent to the table.
Wentz does have that talent. He's had the physical tools in abundance over the course of his career, a reality that has gotten him one job after the next, to the tune of six teams in six years. The only question that remains is whether he can finally cross the bridge of having more and taking less … for the good of the team and the good of himself. Letting other players do the heavy lifting. Wentz did that Sunday, and he seemed to understand what it represented.
"That's obviously what I want to do when I go out there," Wentz said. "I don't want to be the one making the plays. I just want to get it to these playmakers That's always been my philosophy. We've got some good ones here. It's been fun just seeing them work and practice. It's only been a couple weeks, obviously. But seeing it live in a game like today — even [Justin Jefferson], just catching a little deep slant and turning it into whatever he did, 30, 40 yards, it's fun for me to see that. Because my job is just 1-2-3, throw it, and let them do the hard work. That's really the goal every time. I don't want to be running around trying to make plays."
That produced three quarters of more than enough for the Vikings, who pulled Wentz out of the game in the fourth quarter after he'd completed 14 of 20 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns. It marked the first time in a long time that Wentz was sent to the bench with his job well done, and in preservation of starting him next week against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Dublin, Ireland.
"The most important thing is Carson — whether it was the Thursday practice, the Atlanta week [where] he stepped in [for McCarthy] or having all the reps all weeklong, I think he's learning what the type of people are in that huddle with him," O'Connelll said. "If he just takes the right footwork, does his job, runs the show, there's going to be people to throw the ball to.
"We're going to be able to be efficient," O'Connell continued. "And once we rectify the penalties being something that gets in our way from success, we will have a chance to be a complete offense. I think he felt that, and he felt like he could go out there and execute. I thought he gained kind of confidence and settled down as the game went on. And I'm really proud of him. This is the vision you have [for him]. I thought that his poise, his calmness, and his do-your-job kind of effectiveness as the quarterback provided poise for everybody in that huddle."
For now, the Vikings and O'Connell will take it. He made a point Sunday to mention McCarthy and talk about him being on the mend from his ankle injury — keeping his young quarterback squarely in the picture in the wake of a win that could have the fan base questioning where the position is headed. But he also continued to use the word "opportunity" when he referred to the moments Wentz is commanding right now.
It should be noted that in the past, he often used that word for Sam Darnold, too. It might not mean the door is open for Wentz at the starting spot once McCarthy is healthy, but it's certainly not closing it, either.
As O'Connell said himself of Wentz: "We clearly trusted him to go play football and he did so many good things today. And I think he'd be the first one to tell you that there's even more comfort now that he's kind of gone through a full week and played a game. Now he'll get another opportunity here."
Source: "AOL Sports"
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