Things couldn't have started off worse for J.J. McCarthy in his NFL debut for the Minnesota Vikings. The first "touchdown" pass of his career went to Bears cornerback Nahshon Wright on a brutal pick-six, Chicago was dominating the young signal-caller and putting him in a blender, and it seemed like this Vikings team that won 14 games with Sam Darnold last year might come crashing back down to Earth. That seemed to be the in-game narrative everyone was jumping on, with many not even stopping short of calling McCarthy a lemon.
Turns out, McCarthy just needed the fourth quarter to roll around. Because once it became put-up-or-shut-up time for the Vikings, the second-year quarterback making his first start transformed the narrative, becoming a hero before our eyes.
McCarthy led three straight touchdown drives in the fourth quarter to not only get the Vikings back in the game but to overtake the Bears to the point that Chicago couldn't catch back up. It started with a strike over the middle of the field to Justin Jefferson, was followed up with an absolute dot to Aaron Jones running down the right sideline to the end zone, and finished off with a beautiful play fake from Kevin O'Connell that gave McCarthy a rushing lane to pick up another six points.
No other way to slice it, when the game was hanging in the balance — and perhaps his reputation as well — McCarthy went from the guy everyone was ragging on to arguably the best player on the field on Monday night.
J.J. McCarthy still has room to grow, but the Vikings clearly have their guy
Don't get it twisted, O'Connell and every Vikings fan, for the sake of their health if nothing else, need McCarthy to not ever show them anything like the first three quarters of action ever again. He was bad, even for someone who's ostensibly a rookie making his first start on the road in a particularly hostile environment. The throws weren't crisp, the footwork and decision-making appeared rattled, and none of it was what you want.
But there's something to be said for the learning curve that McCarthy rode in record time on Monday night. Part of the credit is undoubtedly due to O'Connell and the way he switched up some of the offense. He found the run game with Jordan Mason, which helped open things up, in addition to giving McCarthy more looks over the middle of the field, where he's clearly the most comfortable throwing at this point in his career.
McCarthy still had to make the throws, though. He still had to not make mistakes. And he accomplished both of those things when the lights were getting blindingly bright given how the game started. For a player who was praised for his makeup and moxie in addition to his talent, he put every bit of it on display on Soldier Field, and instantly became the hero Vikings fans were hoping for all offseason.
Vikings have to like their chances, even if it won't always be smooth sailing
When things were going sour for Minnesota early in the game amid McCarthy's struggles, the truth of the matter was that the Vikings didn't necessarily help out their quarterback. The run game struggled, as did the offensive line and the secondary, too. But when McCarthy pulled it together, everything else fell into place, which seemed to immediately dispel the concern that this team had taken a step back with the switch from Darnold to McCarthy.
Now, the vibes are right where they need to be. A 1-0 start against a division rival is big-time stuff for the Vikings to get things off on the right foot. That's not the biggest thing, though. This team now has seen what McCarthy is capable of when things are clicking for the young quarterback, and the upside looks tremendous.
Though the Packers look more than formidable, the Lions look to have taken a step back and the Bears were on the wrong end of the Week 1 result. That puts the Vikings in the immediate driver's seat to be able to come out of this game and already be thinking they're a playoff team.
Of course, no one wants to get over their skis. There's still work to do, things to clean up, and we still need to see McCarthy put four quarters together playing at that level. But now that we've seen it, the fact that no one is wondering if him playing at the level this year is possible, which was the case for the first three quarters, is quickly becoming a distant memory.