McCarthy delivers in debut, leads Vikings' rally

CHICAGO -- Everyone in the Minnesota Vikings locker room had their own favorite J.J. McCarthy moment of the night. And in the end, they all added up to a thrilling 27-24 victory over the Chicago Bears.

Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave recalled McCarthy telling him that "he's got us" as the team trudged off the field at halftime, trailing by four points after an anemic offensive showing. Coach Kevin O'Connell noted the "unbelievable look" in McCarthy's eyes as the Vikings launched into a fourth-quarter comeback, with McCarthy accounting for three touchdowns.

After McCarthy had an interception returned for a touchdown early in the third quarter, right tackle Brian O'Neill listened intently as McCarthy -- a 22-year-old quarterback making his NFL debut -- spoke to players on the sideline.

"He believed that it was about to pop," O'Neill said. "There's a lot of times where you're like, 'Yeah, all right, cool. Let's go, whatever.' But the conviction in his voice and how he was walking up and down the sideline talking to everybody, little details about different plays, getting guys locked in in the huddle. It was really cool to see."

And running back Aaron Jones, whose 27-yard touchdown reception gave the Vikings their first lead with 9 minutes, 46 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, recalled seven words McCarthy used once in the huddle: "Is there any place you'd rather be?"

McCarthy's last competitive football game took place on Jan. 8, 2024, when he was playing for the college football national championship at the University of Michigan. In the ensuing 609 days, he was drafted No. 10 overall in the 2024 draft by the Vikings and then missed his entire rookie season because of a torn meniscus in his right knee.

The Vikings committed to him as their 2025 starter as they bid farewell to veterans Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones, both of whom finished 2024 on their roster, and passed on an opportunity to sign free agent Aaron Rodgers. Early Monday night, though, McCarthy looked like a quarterback who wasn't ready to assume that mantle.

He managed just 48 passing yards in the first half, and the Vikings didn't convert a third down until his 13-yard touchdown pass to receiver Justin Jefferson with 12:13 remaining in the game. That cut an 11-point deficit to a 17-12 score, and McCarthy went on to throw his scoring strike to Jones and score himself on a 14-yard run with 2:53 remaining.

In all, McCarthy completed 13 of 20 passes for 143 yards. In the process, he became the first quarterback in NFL history to account for three touchdowns in the fourth quarter of his NFL debut. He also joined Steve Young as the only quarterbacks in the past 45 years to overcome a double-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 jeers Bears fans subjected him to. Instead, he leaned on his experience in the semifinals of the 2022 college football playoffs -- when he had two interceptions returned for touchdowns in a 51-45 loss to TCU.

"You never want to earn wisdom that way," he said, "but it just brought me straight back to TCU when I had that first one early on 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 could do as a quarterback, but you can't do anything about it. You got to focus on the next play. The defense kept us in it the whole time, so it was just on our shoulders to go out there and execute and play as one and move on from that. That's one of those things I don't really hang on. And I was really grateful the way coach O'Connell handled it and was everyone on the same page."

Jefferson said last week that McCarthy's college career gave him confidence that, despite an uneven training camp, he would perform well when needed. McCarthy is now 64-3 in games that his team starts, dating back to his sophomore year in high school.

"We knew he had that dog in him," Jefferson said.

The Vikings have tried to build a support system around McCarthy to reduce the likelihood that he would have to carry the team late in a game. O'Connell leaned heavily on tailback Jordan Mason, who rushed for 54 yards in the second half, and the Vikings got strong play from their defense and special teams all evening.

"But," O'Connell said, "there's no way to deny that we don't win this game unless J.J. plays the way he did in the second half, and most importantly kept the belief of his football team behind him. And now we know it's possible. So we hope to not be in these circumstances very often, but his team's made of the right stuff."