J.J. McCarthy’s Debut Leads Vikings’ Comeback Win Over Chicago Bears

Rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy overcame a rocky start to deliver a historic debut, propelling the Minnesota Vikings to a 27-24 win over the Chicago Bears on Monday night.

McCarthy threw two touchdowns and ran for another in the fourth quarter, destroying the Bears’ 11-point lead. He made history as the first player in NFL history to score three touchdowns in the fourth quarter in a debut game.

The way the game started, it seemed the Bears’ quarterback, Caleb Williams, would be the star of the game. It looked as though the Bears were on their way to an easy win with a 17-6 lead after the first three quarters.

Except during halftime, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell challenged the rookie quarterback to seize the game.

“I told him at halftime – ‘You are going to bring us back to win this game,’ and the look in his eye was fantastic,” O’Connell said to reporters after the game. “The best thing is just the belief I felt from the team and unit. Ultimately, that doesn’t get done without him in the second half.”

McCarthy connected with wide receiver Justin Jefferson for a 13-yard touchdown, then later found running back Aaron Jones for a 27-yard score. He added a two-point conversion to wide receiver Adam Thielen and capped the Vikings’ comeback with a 14-yard touchdown run with less than three minutes left on the clock.

Teammates praised McCarthy for his confidence under pressure. The 21-year-old credited a pregame ritual to fueling his focus. He marked his face with two black streaks of “war paint.”

“It’s like I’m ready to die on that field, and I’m ready to do anything possible to get that win,” McCarthy told reporters. “It’s not going to look pretty, and it’s not going to look like someone just did my makeup for Halloween; it’s war paint.”

His performance marked the first time since Steven Young in 1985 that a quarterback overcame a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit in his first NFL game. The defense rallied behind McCarthy in the second half of the game, which led to the historic win.

The Vikings return home to host the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 14 with McCarthy carrying the momentum of his NFL debut.