J.J. McCarthy Era makes a dramatic fourth-quarter arrival as Vikings beat Bears 27-24

Ben Goessling, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Sep 9, 2025

Published in Football

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CHICAGO — On Wednesday afternoon, as the Minnesota Vikings prepared for their first game week with their 22-year-old quarterback, coach Kevin O’Connell called to mind the ineffable quality that always seemed to make the difference for J.J. McCarthy.

The Vikings made McCarthy the highest-drafted quarterback in Vikings history, selecting him 10th overall in 2024 after an extensive search that left them feeling comfortable staking their future on the youngest of the six QBs taken in the first round. McCarthy lost just two games as a starter in high school, and one at Michigan, leaving as a national champion after three years at the school.

“I would not discount the fact that a lot of times when J.J., whatever team he’s been on, tends to be a good version himself on game day,” O’Connell said Wednesday. “There’s a lot of guys that are talented. There’s a lot of guys that can light up the practice field every day, but the guys that can either take it to the game or maybe even be a better version of themselves in the game have that ‘gamer,’ whatever tag you want to put on it. I think he’s got that trait.”

That trait — that something — whatever it is, the Vikings needed it Monday night. And McCarthy delivered it, conjuring a fourth-quarter comeback that turned a dreadful beginning into an improbable win.

He led the Vikings to three fourth-quarter touchdowns, including a 14-yard run with just under three minutes left, to help the Vikings beat the Chicago Bears 27-24 on Monday night. The victory, the Vikings’ sixth straight at Soldier Field, came in a game where the Bears once held a 94% win probability.

McCarthy finished 13 of 20 for 143 yards and two touchdowns, both of which came after his interception was returned for a touchdown by Nahshon Wright. After the interception, he was 8 of 11 for 95 yards and two touchdowns, while running in for the score that put the Vikings up 27-17.

Caleb Williams produced a touchdown drive that pulled the Bears within three, but the Vikings ran the clock down to its final seconds before giving Chicago the ball back with too little time to do anything.

But for his preseason debut against the Las Vegas Raiders in 2024 and the one series he played in the 2025 preseason opener against the Houston Texans, McCarthy hadn’t played since he led Michigan to a national championship on Jan. 8, 2024. The Vikings opted to safeguard against injury in the rest of this preseason, limiting McCarthy to a pair of joint practices against the New England Patriots after the Texans game.

His relative inexperience with the offense showed up early, no doubt magnified by left tackle Christian Darrisaw’s absence. McCarthy held the ball trying to decipher Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s coverages on the game’s first series, and was sacked by Gervon Dexter Sr. to end the first series after Dayo Odeyingbo beat Justin Skule to pressure McCarthy.

Williams, who had one of his best days of the season against the Vikings at Soldier Field last year, staked the Bears to an early lead with the same recipe he used in that game: unleashing his speed to beat their pass rushers to the corner. He ran for a 9-yard score on the Bears’ first drive after Jonathan Greenard jumped inside and fell down trying to resume pursuit of Williams.

The Vikings pulled within 10-6 at halftime, after McCarthy threw a 28-yard strike to Jalen Nailor and WIll Reichard hit a career-long 59-yard field goal. The Vikings forced a three-and-out to start the second half, giving them a chance to take the lead with a touchdown drive. Instead, McCarthy made his most costly mistake of the night.

The Bears showed a zero blitz that led the quarterback to motion Aaron Jones back into the backfield, and the Vikings kept seven in protection to counter the Bears’ seven-man pressure, with Tim Jones staying in to chip a defender before releasing on a short route. Even with solid protection, McCarthy sped up his delivery with catastrophic consequences.

He tried Justin Jefferson on an out-breaking route with Wright sitting on the throw, and Wright jumped it for a 74-yard touchdown, as McCarthy tried in vain to chase down the former Vikings corner. The Soldier Field crowd erupted as Wright reached the end zone, and the score made it 17-6.

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