J.J. McCarthy Shines in Debut with the Vikings: Leads Comeback Against the Bears
In the Minnesota Vikings’ locker room, each player had their favorite moment of the night starring J.J. McCarthy. In the end, all those moments translated into an exciting 27-24 victory over the Chicago Bears. Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave recalled McCarthy’s words at halftime, when the team was losing by four points after a first half with little offensive production: “He told us he had us.” Coach Kevin O’Connell highlighted the “incredible look” in McCarthy’s eyes as the Vikings began the comeback in the final quarter, with McCarthy involved in three touchdowns. After McCarthy threw an interception that resulted in a touchdown early in the third quarter, right tackle Brian O’Neill listened intently as the young quarterback, 22 and making his NFL debut, spoke with players on the bench.Running back Aaron Jones, whose 27-yard touchdown gave the Vikings their first lead with 9 minutes and 46 seconds remaining in the final quarter, recalled the seven words McCarthy used in the meeting: “Is there anywhere you’d rather be?”. McCarthy’s last competitive game was on January 8, 2024, when he was playing for the college football national championship at the University of Michigan. In the following 609 days, he was selected 10th overall in the 2024 draft by the Vikings and then missed his entire rookie season due to a torn meniscus in his right knee. The Vikings chose him as their starter for 2025, while saying goodbye to veterans Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones, who finished 2024 on their roster, and turned down the opportunity to sign free agent Aaron Rodgers. However, early Monday night, McCarthy looked like a quarterback who wasn’t ready to take on that role. In the first half, he only managed 48 passing yards, and the Vikings didn’t convert a third down until their 13-yard touchdown pass to receiver Justin Jefferson with 12:13 left in the game. That cut an 11-point deficit to a 17-12 score, and McCarthy then threw his scoring pass to Jones and scored himself on a 14-yard run with 2:53 remaining. In total, McCarthy completed 13 of 20 passes for 143 yards. In the process, he became the first quarterback in NFL history to be responsible for three touchdowns in the fourth quarter of his NFL debut. He also joined Steve Young as the only quarterbacks in the last 45 years to overcome a two-digit deficit in the fourth quarter of their debut and win. McCarthy grew up in La Grange Park, outside of Chicago, and said he largely blocked out the cheers and boos he was subjected to by Bears fans. Instead, he drew on his experience in the 2022 college football playoff semifinals, when he had two interceptions that resulted in touchdowns in a 51-45 loss to TCU.“He thought this was about to explode,” O’Neill said. “There are many times you say, ‘Yeah, okay, great. Let’s go.’ But the conviction in his voice and how he walked the sidelines talking to everyone, little details about different plays, keeping everyone focused in the meeting. It was really cool to see.”
Brian O’Neill
Jefferson said last week that McCarthy’s college career gave him confidence that, despite an irregular training camp, he would play well when needed. McCarthy now has a 64-3 record in the games his team starts, since his sophomore year in high school.“You never want to gain wisdom that way,” he said, “but it brought me right back to TCU when I had the first one early in the game and then the second one later and at the end of the day. It sucks. It’s one of the worst things you can do as a quarterback, but you can’t do anything about it. You have to focus on the next play. The defense kept us in the game the whole time, so it was just up to us to go out and execute and play as one and keep going. That’s one of those things I don’t really dwell on. And I was very grateful for the way Coach O’Connell handled it and everyone was on the same page.”
J.J. McCarthy
The Vikings have attempted to build a support system around McCarthy to reduce the likelihood that he has to carry the team at the end of a game. O’Connell relied heavily on running back Jordan Mason, who ran for 54 yards in the second half, and the Vikings got a great performance from their defense and special teams throughout the night. “But,” O’Connell said, “there’s no denying that we don’t win this game unless J.J. plays the way he did in the second half, and most importantly, he kept his football team’s belief behind him. And now we know it’s possible. So we hope we’re not in these circumstances very often, but his team is made of the right stuff.”“We knew he had that dog in him,” Jefferson said.
Justin Jefferson
