RandBall: J.J. McCarthy gets Hall of Fame critique, praise on ‘ManningCast’

On the Vikings’ opening drive, they faced a third-and-2. The Bears showed a blitz look with man-to-man coverage, but that proved to be a disguise. They dropped into a zone with a four-man rush and ended up sacking McCarthy. Peyton Manning gave McCarthy some grace on that play and a similar one that ended the Vikings’ second drive. “Eli, I can tell you I played 18 years. I thought it was man. They confused me. I can promise you, J.J McCarthy thought it was man. I know he was confused,” said Peyton, a Hall of Famer who nonetheless still holds the rookie record for interceptions (28) in a season. “That’s part of it. That redshirt year, you don’t get that. You don’t get live plays at Soldier Field. He’ll figure it out. I think he’s made of the right stuff.”

On the pick-six McCarthy threw in the third quarter that gave the Bears a 17-6 lead, both Manning brothers reacting in real-time and hoping the Vikings would call timeout with the play clock winding down. “Oh no,” Peyton muttered as Nahshon Wright jumped the route and took it back 74 yards. He later added some technical critique of McCarthy’s decision: “The corner never got out of his backpedal. You can’t throw it if the corner never backs up.”

Moss came on right after the Bears missed a field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter, one that would have made it 20-6. The former Vikings legend and Hall of Famer, who is making his triumphant return to TV after finishing bile duct cancer treatment, offered an assessment of what he had seen in the first three quarters. “I’m just seeing from the passing game that it looks like they’re missing a little bit of chemistry,” Moss said.

A recurring segment on the ManningCast has guests predict who will score in the red zone. Before a third down play, Moss foreshadowed that Justin Jefferson would be the guy — mere seconds before arguably McCarthy’s best throw of the night, a low dart in the end zone to Jefferson that got Minnesota within one score. Moss praised McCarthy for his ball placement while Peyton marveled “what a throw,” as he did later when McCarthy hit Aaron Jones for the go-ahead TD.

Other lighter moments during Moss’s fourth-quarter appearance included an anecdote told by Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell during which Moss refused to take reps when he was the Patriots QB; Moss quipped, “Don’t look at the number!” when Josh Oliver, wearing Moss’s old No. 84, was chopped down short of the goal line on a two-point conversion try; and a graphic showing a tweet that the Vikings had rallied for two touchdowns since Moss came on the show, then him shouting, “Whoever sent that tweet out, make it three!” after McCarthy’s TD run.

Eli Manning had a great summary of McCarthy’s night near the end of the broadcast: “I like also that they struggled in the first half. [McCarthy] threw a pick six, so he knows it’s not easy. He was probably humbled a little bit but he fought through it, made some plays and made some throws. Got into a rhythm. You’re going to have some bad plays, but you have to keep grinding.”

O’Connell has become known for his fiery postgame speeches, and the first one of 2025 did not disappoint. McCarthy’s appearance at the end will make Vikings fans want to run through a brick wall.

The Bears are feeling an opposite gamut of emotions after blowing a double-digit lead. Williams missed a ton of throws in key moments, which was dissected nicely here. Head coach Ben Johnson had a hot start but couldn’t rally his team from adversity and made a bad decision to not try an on-side kick after the Bears pulled within 27-24.

Special teams were mostly tremendous for the Vikings on Monday. Myles Price is their best punt returner in years. Will Reichard bombed a 59-yard field goal. Ryan Wright, outside of one dud, was solid on his seven punts. Eric Wilson partially blocked a punt.

Wednesday’s podcast will bring the return of Vikings poetry plus Randy Johnson on Gophers football. If you missed Monday’s postgame special edition podcast, it is here:

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