CHICAGO — For three quarters, J.J. McCarthy was bad. Painfully bad. Bad as in, “Guy hasn’t played football in a year” bad.
But the fourth quarter? McCarthy was magic, reminding everyone why the Minnesota Vikings used the 10th pick in the 2024 draft on him.
The Vikings scored 21 unanswered points on the Chicago Bears in the fourth quarter Monday night, with McCarthy responsible for all but one of them. In digging the Vikings out of an 11-point hole, he also dug himself out of the kind of demoralizing performance that can leave a significant dent on a young quarterback’s confidence and development. (See Caleb Williams, 2024 season.)
“He stepped into the huddle — we were losing, I want to say late third, early fourth (quarter) and he goes, `Is there any place else you guys would rather be?’ That says a lot about you right there,” Aaron Jones said after the game.
“This kid is special. He’s different up here,” Jones added, pointing at his head. “I’ve been saying it the whole time.”
