J.J. McCarthy’s long-awaited debut for the Minnesota Vikings was looking more like a nightmare.
Even so, coach Kevin O'Connell could sense things were going to change. And he told his quarterback at halftime.
“You are going to bring us back to win this game,” O’Connell said he told McCarthy.
McCarthy did just that in the fourth quarter, throwing for two touchdowns and running for another, and the Minnesota Vikings rallied for a season-opening 27-24 win over the Chicago Bears on Monday night.
Chicago’s Caleb Williams had his first career rushing touchdown and threw for a score in Ben Johnson's debut as the Bears' coach.
McCarthy delivered down the stretch after struggling through the first three quarters in his first meaningful game since Michigan beat Washington for the national championship at the end of the 2023 season. He sat out last year due to a knee injury after the Vikings drafted him with the No. 10 overall pick.
Now, Minnesota is counting on McCarthy.
“I felt poise from the very beginning,” O'Connell said.
O’Connell, in fact, was so confident in his quarterback that he told McCarthy at halftime he was going to lead the Vikings to a win.
“The look in his eye was fantastic,” O’Connell said. “The best thing was just the belief I felt from the team, from the unit, and ultimately, that doesn’t get done without him in the second half.”
McCarthy felt empowered by his coach's prediction.
“That guy is one of the best — if not the best — coaches, in my opinion, in the National Football League,” he said. “Any kind of compliments or belief like that, it means the world. That just gave me the confidence to go out there and just execute the ball plays and have a fast arm and make quick, decisive decisions. And it worked out.”
Strong finish
Things weren’t looking good for McCarthy after Nahshon Wright returned an interception 74 yards for a touchdown to give Chicago a 17-6 lead in the third quarter. But he turned it around in the fourth.
McCarthy connected with Justin Jefferson for a 13-yard touchdown. His 2-point conversion pass failed.
Minnesota then needed just three plays to grab the lead, with McCarthy throwing a 27-yard TD pass to Aaron Jones. The conversion pass to Adam Thielen put the Vikings on top 20-17 with 9:46 remaining.
McCarthy made it a 10-point game with about three minutes left when he faked a handoff and turned up the right side for a 14-yard touchdown run. Chicago then went 65 yards for a score, with Williams throwing a 1-yard TD pass to Rome Odunze with just over two minutes remaining, but the Vikings hung on to beat the Bears for the eighth time in the past nine games.
“We don't win this game unless J.J. plays the way he did in the second half,” O'Connell said. “Most importantly, he kept the belief of this football team behind him, and now, we know it's possible. You hope to not be in these circumstances very often. But this team's made of the right stuff.”
McCarthy completed 13 of 20 passes for 143 yards. He grew up in the Chicago area and the first game he attended at Soldier Field was against the Vikings 18 years ago.
O'Connell said in the locker room after the win that playing through adversity is what the NFL is all about.
"Minnesota Vikings left everything we have out on that football field," O'Connell said. "So if there was any question in your minds about this football team and dealing with adversity within this locker room, within our building, you put it on the display for the whole world with what we did in the second half."
Jefferson and Jones each had 44 yards receiving.
Tight end T.J. Hockenson also talked about the leadership McCarthy displayed.
"That's mental toughness from him all game," Hockenson explained. "He came into that huddle, controlled it, made us ready to go for the next play, and we just kept doing that. And things started stacking up, ball started bouncing our way and we came out with a W."
Will Reichard kicked two field goals, including a 59-yarder near the end of the first half that matched a Soldier Field record.
Letdown for Bears
Williams, coming off a shaky rookie season after being drafted with the No. 1 overall pick, completed 21 of 35 passes for 210 yards and a score. The former Heisman Trophy winner also ran for a 9-yard TD in the first quarter. He said the way Johnson called the game was not the issue for the Bears.
“It’s not a play-call thing, it’s not anything like that,” Williams said. “It’s just being able go out there and execute the plays that are called and be able to execute them at a high level. That’s something that we take pride in and today that didn’t happen.”
One thing the Bears will have to clean up is the penalties. They committed 12 for 127 yards.
“We made too many mistakes there late in the game, myself included,” Johnson said. “There were a number of things I could have done better, there were a number of things a lot of guys could have done better.”
Injuries
Vikings: LB Blake Cashman left with a hamstring injury and will have an MRI. ... O'Connell said CB Jeff Okudah would be evaluated for a concussion after he was hurt at the end of the game. ... S Harrison Smith (illness) did not travel with the team. ... OT Christian Darrisaw, coming back from a torn ACL last season, was inactive.
Bears: The Bears were missing three important defensive players, with CB Jaylon Johnson (groin), CB Kyler Gordon (hamstring) and LB T.J. Edwards (hamstring) inactive.
Up next
Vikings: Host Atlanta on Sunday.