J.J. McCarthy leads epic Vikings comeback over Caleb Williams, Bears

CHICAGO — J.J. McCarthy threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes and ran for another in his long-awaited NFL debut, and the Minnesota Vikings rallied for a season-opening 27-24 win over the Chicago Bears on Monday night.

Chicago’s Caleb Williams had his first career rushing touchdown and threw for a score in Ben Johnson’s first game as the Bears’ coach.

McCarthy delivered down the stretch after struggling through the first three quarters in his first meaningful game since Michigan beat Washington for the national championship at the end of the 2023 season. He sat out last year with a knee injury after the Vikings drafted him with the No. 10 overall pick.

Now, Minnesota is counting on McCarthy.

“I felt poise from the very beginning,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said.

O’Connell, in fact, was so confident in his quarterback that he said he told McCarthy at halftime: “You are going to bring us back to win this game.”

“The look in his eye was fantastic,” O’Connell continued. “The best thing was just the belief I felt from the team, from the unit, and ultimately, that doesn’t get done without him in the second half.”

McCarthy was empowered by hearing those words.

“That guy is one of the best — if not the best — coaches, in my opinion, in the National Football League,” he said. “Any kind of compliments or belief like that, it means the world. That just gave me the confidence to go out there and just execute the ball plays and have a fast arm and make quick, decisive decisions. And it worked out.”

Things weren’t looking good for McCarthy after Nahshon Wright returned an interception 74 yards for a touchdown to give Chicago a 17-6 lead in the third quarter. But he turned it around in the fourth.

McCarthy connected with Justin Jefferson for a 13-yard touchdown. His 2-point conversion pass failed.

Minnesota then needed just three plays to grab the lead, with McCarthy throwing a 27-yard TD pass to Aaron Jones. The conversion pass to Adam Thielen put the Vikings on top 20-17 with 9:46 remaining.

McCarthy made it a 10-point game with about three minutes left when he faked a handoff and turned up the right side for a 14-yard touchdown run. Chicago then went 65 yards for a score, with Williams throwing a 1-yard TD pass to Rome Odunze with just over two minutes remaining, but the Vikings hung on to beat the Bears for the eighth time in the past nine games.

“We don’t win this game unless J.J. plays the way he did in the second half,” O’Connell said. “Most importantly, he kept the belief of this football team behind him, and now, we know it’s possible. You hope to not be in these circumstances very often. But this team’s made of the right stuff.”

McCarthy completed 13 of 20 passes for 143 yards. He grew up in the Chicago area and the first game he attended at Soldier Field was against the Vikings 18 years ago.

Jefferson and Jones each had 44 yards receiving.

Will Reichard kicked two field goals, including a 59-yarder near the end of the first half that matched a Soldier Field record.

Williams, coming off a shaky rookie season after being drafted with the No. 1 overall pick, completed 21 of 35 passes for 210 yards and a score. The former Heisman Trophy winner also ran for a 9-yard TD in the first quarter. He said the way Johnson called the game was not the issue for the Bears.

“It’s not a play-call thing, it’s not anything like that,” Williams said. “It’s just being able go out there and execute the plays that are called and be able to execute them at a high level. That’s something that we take pride in and today that didn’t happen.”

Wright, who played for Minnesota last season, jumped the route on a pass intended for Jefferson early in the third and went untouched along the sideline for his first career touchdown.

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