Aug 10, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) passes in opposition to the Las Vegas Raiders within the second quarter at U.S. Financial institution Stadium. Necessary Credit score: Brad Rempel-Imagn Photos Applicable given the delayed begin to his NFL profession, J.J. McCarthy wanted a minute to get rolling Monday evening at Soldier Discipline.
McCarthy was simply 5-of-8 passing for 48 yards and a passer score of 79.2 within the first half and Minnesota appeared lucky to path the Chicago Bears by a 10-6 rely. Caleb Williams, the quarterback drafted 9 spots earlier than the Vikings picked McCarthy in final 12 months’s draft, had finished nearly all the things proper. He scrambled for a 9-yard landing and accomplished 13 of 16 passes for 112 yards, good for a passer score of 95.8.
The house crowd was thrown right into a frenzy when the Bears tacked on seven extra for a 17-6 lead.
McCarthy compelled a throw within the path of All-Professional large receiver Justin Jefferson that was picked by former Vikings cornerback Nahshon Wright and returned for a 74-yard landing.
“I advised him at halftime, ‘You will convey us again to win this recreation,’ and the look in his eye was implausible,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell stated Monday evening. “The most effective factor is simply the assumption I felt from the group and unit. Finally, that does not get finished with out him within the second half — two passing touchdowns and the essential dashing landing on the finish.”
McCarthy’s impressed effort to steer the Vikings to 21 unanswered factors and overcome a double-digit deficit in his debut speaks to his grounded, Zen-like nature — and the steely resolve required of a participant in his place. A lot of his 13 completions felt massively important within the context of the rally. There was no panic in McCarthy’s play in a second lined with strain constructed because the 2024 preseason when his knee proved unready for the NFL mission.
On Monday evening, 15 miles from his boyhood residence and within the stadium the place he took in his first NFL recreation, a Vikings’ win over the Bears, McCarthy was all the things the Vikings thought he could possibly be when the franchise used a top-10 choose to pick him.
“It has been an extended journey,” McCarthy stated.
“I believe it has been 609 days, I believe I noticed since my final aggressive soccer recreation, which was the nationwide championship. So, it has been some time of being simply within the coaching room, watching a variety of movie, studying the playbook and making an attempt to grasp that. On the finish of the day, it is such a blessing to be an NFL soccer participant and play on this league.”
With 12:13 to go within the recreation, the Vikings trailed 17-12 after a McCarthy-to-Justin Jefferson connection and failed two-point attempt. However it was evident McCarthy had shaken any peripheral trauma from the pick-6 and was comfy within the driver’s seat.
Grounded, you may say.
“On the finish of the day, we’re so blessed to have the ability to play this recreation, so each snap we get is an entire blessing,” McCarthy stated. “That was one thing I discussed to the blokes within the huddle once we had been down, ‘The place else would you moderately be?’ So, I really feel like we did a terrific job and this group confirmed a variety of poise and responded very nicely.”
