J.J. McCarthy Heats Up Late as Vikings Beat Bears

McCarthy Heats Up Late - Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy, making his first career start, shook off a poor start to lead his team to a come from behind 27-24 road win over the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football. However things looked bleak for the Vikings when McCarthy threw a pick-six to Nahshon Wright who returned it 74 yards to the house. At that point the Bears led 17-6 going into the fourth quarter.

On the sidelines, McCarthy looked into the eyes of his teammates and convinced them they were going to win. At that point a light switch came on and McCarthy led his team to three fourth quarter touchdowns. He threw scoring passes to Justin Jefferson and Aaron Jones Sr. And he ran for a touchdown with under three minutes remaining to go up 27-17. The Bears would answer with a touchdown ahead of the 2:00 warning to draw within three points but that was it.

McCarthy Heats Up - McCarthy's college coach Jim Harbaugh once called him a generational quarterback. In 2023 he led the Michigan Wolverines to a national championship. That was the last game McCarthy played because an early knee injury derailed his entire rookie season last year. And for three quarters he looked rough around the edges. But then something clicked. And he looked generational. And now he begins his pro career as a starting quarterback 1-0.