Vikings' JJ McCarthy delivers stunning comeback victory in first NFL start against Bears
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 points in the fourth quarter to defeat the Chicago Bears - on the road to begin the 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 - 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 CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS COMMcCarthy was having selected trouble doing so to start this championship 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 - 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 tally 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 START STREAMING WITH A -DAY FREE TRIAL AT FOXONE COM OR DOWNLOAD THE FOX ONE APP ON YOUR FAVORITE DEVICEMcCarthy after getting a generous defensive pass interference call launched a perfectly placed deep ball to running back Aaron Jones for the lead - after a thriving two-point conversion The dagger in this come-from-behind win was a nine-play drive that ended with a -yard touchdown run by none other than McCarthy who kept the ball on a third-and- read option from the Chicago -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 amount went to - with left in the competition Williams got off to such a hot start running in a touchdown on the Bears opening drive of the battle 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 contest and he was decisively able to find the end zone again The Bears drought ended with Rome Odunze wide open for the one-yard number 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 conquest on the road McCarthy s first career start ended with a line of -for- for 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 battle totaling for yards with the veteran Aaron Jones Sr getting eight carries for yards Jones though was tied with Jefferson for yards in the receiving meeting For the Bears Williams was -of- for yards with his touchdown pass and rushing tally He led the Bears with rushing yards on just six carries while D Andre Swift had yards on touches in the backfield D J Moore also had yards on just three receptions Follow Fox News Digital s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter
