Week 1 of the NFL season appears to be the week of the comeback, with the Minnesota Vikings pulling off one of their own in a 27-24 win on Monday night over the Chicago Bears. Things were not looking good for the Vikings in the third quarter, with the Bears taking a 17-6 lead into the final frame, but that just paved the way for JJ McCarthy to wake up and lead his team to three scoring drives in the span of 10 minutes (two of them coming within three minutes) — starting the season off with a bang.
McCarthy entered the season with so much hype, especially when winning has followed him at every stop. The Vikings certainly decided to hand over the reins to the man they drafted with the 10th overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, and he delivered right when his team needed him to.
Considering how young McCarthy is, everything is a growing process for him at the moment. And the 22-year-old definitely had to learn on the fly on Monday. But once he and the Vikings got the hang of it, they were a force to be reckoned with.
“Honestly, we were just figuring it out. We're playing one play at a time, and Coach O'Connell got us some great play calls. And we just executed,” McCarthy told ESPN's Lisa Salters, via Jori Epstein of Yahoo Sports.
Vikings trailed by 11 before beating Bears 27-24.
“Honestly, we were just figuring it out,” JJ McCarthy said. “There’s a lot of things we’ve got to clean up. But I was really, really proud of how we responded. Because there’s going to be a lot of gritty games in the future.” pic.twitter.com/jP1DI0q3oD
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) September 9, 2025
As enthralling as winning in his first career start is, the Vikings quarterback admitted that they do have a lot of room for improvement in preparation for the tougher games that lie ahead.
“It's just all [about] being on the same page. It's game one, there’s a lot of things we’ve got to clean up. But I was really, really proud of how we responded. Because there’s going to be a lot of gritty games in the future,” McCarthy added.
Vikings respond with major fourth-quarter comeback
It always helps an inexperienced quarterback, regardless of how talented he is, when he plays with talented receivers who can make plays with the football. It certainly helped McCarthy that he had All-Pro receiver Justin Jefferson as a major target — with Jefferson hitting paydirt once in the fourth quarter to start the comeback.
McCarthy also had former Pro Bowler Aaron Jones to catch some of his throws, and it all just came together for the Vikings — especially when their defense held strong for most of the night.
The Vikings will now look to keep this momentum going in Week 2 when they face the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday at home.
