JJ McCarthy leads Vikings comeback in first NFL start, beats Bears on the road

The first three quarters weren’t pretty for Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy in his first NFL start on Monday night, but all that matters is what happens in the fourth quarter. 

McCarthy led the Vikings on a thrilling comeback, scoring 21 points in the fourth quarter to defeat the Chicago Bears, 27-24, on the road to begin the 2025 NFL season. 

Last season, McCarthy was on the sideline with a season-ending meniscus injury suffered during preseason. He watched as Sam Darnold led the Vikings to a 14-3 record, but McCarthy knew heading into this campaign it was his turn to get the job done at quarterback in head coach Kevin O’Connell’s dynamic offense. 

McCarthy was having some trouble doing so to start this game, as the Bears’ defense, led by new coordinator Dennis Allen, was drawing up the right pressures to fluster the young signal caller. He was only able to get Will Reichard into field goal range twice in the first half, while Caleb Williams and the Bears’ offense got off to a hot start under new head coach Ben Johnson. 

But crunch time in the fourth quarter, with the Vikings down 17-6, McCarthy answered the call. 

It all started with a six-play drive, where McCarthy fired a bullet to the front of the end zone to find his star receiver, Justin Jefferson, for his first score of the new campaign. Then, the Vikings’ defense kept up the pressure on Williams to give McCarthy another chance at the lead with a three-and-out forced on the ensuing possession. 

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McCarthy, after getting a generous defensive pass interference call, launched a perfectly placed deep ball to running back Aaron Jones for the lead, 20-17, after a successful two-point conversion. 

The dagger in this come-from-behind win was a nine-play drive that ended with a 14-yard touchdown run by none other than McCarthy, who kept the ball on a third-and-1 read option from the Chicago 14-yard line. He barreled his way into the end zone, and let out a roar with his Vikings teammates all huddling around him as the score went to 27-17 with 2:53 left in the game. 

Williams got off to such a hot start, running in a touchdown on the Bears’ opening drive of the game. But the Bears’ offense, expected to be upgraded with Johnson’s play-calling in place given his success with the Detroit Lions, sputtered after that. They only mustered a field goal in the second quarter, while kicker Cairo Santos missed another in the fourth. 

The other touchdown scored for the Bears was a pick-six thrown by McCarthy in the third quarter which, at the time, seemed to be a total killer because of how poorly he was playing. 

But it was Williams needing to run hurry-up offense late to get back into the game, and he was finally able to find the end zone again. The Bears’ drought ended with Rome Odunze wide open for the one-yard score to get the deficit down to three for Chicago with two minutes left to play. 

The Bears’ defense was able to force a three-and-out on the Vikings, but there was not enough play clock left for a miracle as the Vikings celebrated their hard-fought victory on the road. 

McCarthy’s first career start ended with a line of 13-for-20 for 143 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. It was also notable to see Jordan Mason getting the lion’s share of touches in the run game, totaling 15 for 68 yards, with the veteran Aaron Jones Sr. getting eight carries for 23 yards. Jones, though, was tied with Jefferson for 44 yards in the receiving game. 

For the Bears, Williams was 21-of-35 for 211 yards with his touchdown pass and rushing score. He led the Bears with 58 rushing yards on just six carries, while D’Andre Swift had 53 yards on 17 touches in the backfield. D.J. Moore also had 70 yards on just three receptions.

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