Open the Record Books: J.J. McCarthy Made History on Monday
The Minnesota Vikings secured their first victory of the season by beating the Chicago Bears in the season opener. Young signal-caller J.J. McCarthy made his NFL debut over 16 months after being drafted by the purple franchise.
J.J. McCarthy Made History on Monday.
Divisional games on the road are never easy, and this proved to be a tough test for Kevin O’Connell and his team. The Bears came out looking like Ben Johnson had already implemented some of his Detroit magic, and Minnesota’s offense certainly struggled.
In fact, they couldn’t move the ball for nearly three quarters, only having six points entering the fourth. Thankfully, they put together a solid drive and found the endzone for the first time early in the closing quarter.
McCarthy threw a pair of passing touchdowns (one to Justin Jefferson and the other to Aaron Jones), and he rushed for a third score on a read option play. Those three touchdowns in the fourth quarter were a first in NFL history for a player in his NFL debut, Jordan Schultz noted.
It was not a good start for the young passer. The Vikings struggled to protect him; he appeared a little rushed at times and still had only five passing yards into the second quarter. A few receiver drops didn’t help him.
Then, when the Vikings finally gained some momentum, he tried to complete an out-route on a third-down play. The Bears blitzed, and McCarthy did the right thing (on paper) and got rid of the ball, though there might have been a different receiver he could’ve targeted. Former Vikings corner Nahshon Wright read the play, jumped the route, and had his big moment when he returned the ball for six points.
At halftime, head coach Kevin O’Connell attempted to boost his young captain’s confidence. He reflected after the game: “I told him at halftime, ‘You are going to bring us back to win this game.’ And the look in his eye was fantastic.”
Indeed, McCarthy showed resilience and brought his team back from a ten-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Only Steve Young managed to do that in his debut, ESPN’s Kevin Seifert found out.
In that fourth quarter, McCarthy completed six of eight passes, collected 101 total yards, and found the endzone three times. His passer rating in that period was an otherworldly 148.5.
After the game, McCarthy revealed that, despite the deficit, he asked his comrades in the huddle, “Where else would you rather be?”
Asked to provide some more detail, he added, “I’ve never actually said that before, but I feel like it was at the perfect time; guys were kind of just in their head a little bit. And I feel like a smile goes a long way. So there were a lot of smiles after I said that, and just a little bit of a perspective shift: ‘Yeah, things weren’t going our way, but we’re here doing this together’ – and the boys, they responded perfectly.”
McCarthy is still just 22 years old, but his leadership has drawn praise ever since he arrived in the Twin Cities, and even long before that, leadership was a frequent buzzword in his pre-draft reports.
After the game, Justin Jefferson was asked about McCarthy’s rhetorical question.
“It juiced us up, honestly, to hear our quarterback have those words and lead us in that type of way. It’s definitely something that we need. It’s not every time you hear J.J. be that type of guy, but today, game day, when the lights are shining, he knows how to come to work and he knows how to have that dawg mentality. And he never gave up. That was the big thing about it. He just kept going, play after play, not really thinking on the interception that he had, just all about focusing on the next play.”
It certainly was not a flawless game from Minnesota’s new QB1, but he pulled off a comeback victory and revealed his clutch gene to the NFL world.
McCarthy’s next chance to shine will come on Sunday. It’s a short week for the Vikings, who will once again be asked to perform on national television with the entire league watching. Kirk Cousins, Atlanta’s backup QB, will make his second return to Minnesota, where his group lost last year against an unstoppable Sam Darnold and his five touchdowns.
Editor’s Note: Information from ESPN, PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.