The Green Bay Packers are in a three-way dogfight for supremacy of the NFC North, but the disappointing play of quarterback J.J. McCarthy has the rival Minnesota Vikings doing everything they can to just keep their heads above water in what has been a very brutal season.
McCarthy has performed so poorly that one of Green Bay's most hated rivals went from 14 wins in 2024 to just five this season. When compared across the league, the former first-round pick's numbers and performance actually are worse than it looks.
CBS Sports ranked McCarthy as the worst starting quarterback in their 32-player ranking. But wait, isn't 44-year-old Philip Rivers making a return to the Indianapolis Colts after a half-decade away from the game? He is, and that's what makes the ranking even funnier.
Rivers was ranked 31st in these power rankings, one spot ahead of McCarthy. Rivers was a few months removed from possibly making his way to the Hall of Fame, and now his return has catapulted him to a level of stardom that still supersedes what McCarthy has put on tape so far.
Packers fans will laugh at J.J. McCarthy ranking below Philip Rivers
McCarthy is fresh off throwing three touchdowns in a 31-0 victory against the Washington Commanders, but it seems as though the national consensus on the former Michigan man is that he needs a few more of those games before many can believe he has turned a corner.
The Packers, meanwhile, are riding yet another tremendous season from Jordan Love to a playoff push. Love, who has thrown 22 touchdown passes and just four interceptions on the season, is putting together the best statistical year he has had in the pros.
While McCarthy works on stringing two non-terrible games together in a row, Love is riding his usual Toyotathon hotstreak to the ranks of the NFL's elite. Love has the best touchdown-interception ratio (37-3) in Week 11 or later of any quarterback in the history of the NFL.
As the Packers sharpen their focus and try to put themselves in a position to possibly compete for a Super Bowl, McCarthy is trying his best to prove he is better than an immobile 44-year-old who hasn't played since before Joe Biden's inauguration. These two teams are trending in very different directions.