Chicago kid J.J. McCarthy made his first NFL start a memorable one, rallying the visiting Minnesota Vikings to a 27-24 win over the Bears on Monday night.
McCarthy made the decisive play with his legs on third-and-1 from the Chicago 14 with the clock ticking under three minutes. From the shotgun, he faked a handoff to running back Jordan Mason and sprinted right, racing to the front corner of the end zone behind a bullying block from tight end T.J. Hockenson to give the Vikings a 27-17 lead with 2:53 remaining.
Minnesota scored 21 unanswered points with touchdowns on three consecutive drives in the fourth quarter to erase a two-score deficit.
However, after going up 10, the Vikings allowed the Bears to reach the end zone in just 57 seconds to keep hope alive.
The Vikings’ defense played a key role turning the game with third-down stops on six consecutive drives in response to the Bears jumping ahead 17-6, then propped the door open for Chicago when linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. was flagged for roughing Bears quarterback Caleb Williams with 2:12 to go.
On the ensuing play, Williams scrambled up the middle away from pressure and sprinted to his right for 14 yards, but he was ruled out of bounds a foot shy of the goal line. Williams connected with Rome Odunze on an in-cutting slant from the left of the formation for a 1-yard touchdown, making it a 27-24 game.
McCarthy completed 13 of 20 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. A first-round pick in 2024, he missed last season recovering from knee surgery.
Williams, selected with the top pick nine slots before Minnesota chose McCarthy last year, was 21 of 35 for 210 yards and a TD. He led the team with 58 rushing yards and a touchdown.
McCarthy’s second touchdown pass of the game came one snap after a pass-interference penalty, Chicago’s 11th infraction in the game, saved the Vikings from a field-goal try. He found running back Aaron Jones down the right sideline for a 27-yard score and added the two-point pass to Adam Thielen with a quick out for a 20-17 advantage with 9:46 to go in the game.
Chicago had momentum and a 17-6 lead early in the third quarter thanks to Nahshon Wright’s pick-6. The cornerback jumped McCarthy’s pass to his left intended for Justin Jefferson and sprinted 74 yards for a touchdown and an 11-point advantage.
Right as the wheels appeared ready to wobble off for the Vikings, McCarthy pulled Minnesota within a score.
He zipped a 13-yard touchdown pass over the middle to Jefferson, who had a team-high four receptions for 44 yards. The Vikings’ two-point try failed to keep the score 17-12 early in the fourth quarter, but Minnesota sacked Williams for the first time in the game on Chicago’s first-down snap and forced a punt to get the ball right back.
Williams scored the first touchdown of the game on the Bears’ opening drive, punching it in on a busted third-and-6 play from the Vikings 9, reaching the end zone to stake Chicago to a 7-0 lead. Minnesota answered with a pair of Will Reichard field goals (31, 59 yards) sandwiched around Cairo Santos’ 42-yarder, all in the second quarter.
