J.J. McCarthy Didn't Hear No Bell Against the Bears

In the middle of the third quarter, the chaos was starting to get to J.J. McCarthy. His first NFL start wasn’t going the way anyone had planned, and time was running out on a pivotal third down. McCarthy dropped back to pass and tried to fire a laser to Justin Jefferson, but former Vikings corner Nahshon Wright intercepted it and returned it for a touchdown that gave the Chicago Bears a 17-6 lead.

We don’t know exactly what was running through McCarthy’s mind at this point. But if this were Hollywood, it would be

Everything was going against McCarthy at that moment. But there was just one problem.

J.J. McCarthy didn’t hear no bell.

McCarthy rebounded in the best way possible, leading the Vikings to 21 fourth-quarter points and a 27-24 victory over the Bears on Monday night. It was a performance that came at Soldier Field, where Chad Hutchinson and Daniel became football gods for an afternoon when the Vikings came to town. But most importantly, it bucked a trend that we’ve seen far too often in the history of the franchise.

I'm not saying that McCarthy’s night was a total success. While McCarthy is in his second year, he looked like the rookie many made him out to be in the first two-and-a-half quarters. He routinely got the Vikings to the line late. Many of his decisions felt rushed, and an offensive line that was missing Christian Darrisaw was pushed around by a Bears team that was running on opening-night adrenaline on their home turf.

It’s a script that made some fans go to bed early. The Vikings have had special games and seasons in the past. But they’ve usually come when they’ve built momentum behind it. Last year’s 14-3 team routinely played from ahead. However, when the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams punched them in the mouth early, O’Connell’s team curled into the fetal position and let them take their lunch money.

There’s also “The Kirk Cousins Vortex” in recent years. O’Connell helped Cousins quiet the noise and lead the team to eight fourth-quarter comebacks in 2022, but there was always a frantic energy that accompanied those comebacks. When Mike Zimmer coached Cousins, there would always be something that knocked him down, and he was never able to bounce back.

Think back further in Vikings history. Kyle Rudolph scored the opening touchdown in the 2018 NFC Championship game before the Philadelphia Eagles scored 38 unanswered points. The 2000 NFC Championship game was another example when the New York Giants laid a 41-0 beating on Minnesota, leaving fans to their traditional “Why us?” lamentations.

But even as McCarthy lay on the metaphorical mat on Monday night, his superpower was waiting in the wings. When McCarthy spoke to the media in April, he detailed his battle with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and how he used it for situations like the one he walked into against the Bears.

“I came across this quote, people with ADHD, they find calm in the chaos and chaos in the calm,” McCarthy said. “And I’ve felt like, ever since I was a kid, any competitive environment I was in, I just felt like I was at home. Obviously playing at Michigan, there’s 110,000 [fans in the stadium] and you’re at one of the most prominent universities out there – that’s just where I feel most comfortable.”

With that in mind, McCarthy climbed the ropes and got back in the fight. He found Jefferson for a 13-yard touchdown pass that cut the lead down to 17-12 with 12:13 left in the game. On the next drive, he threw a pass over two defenders into the hands of Aaron Jones, giving the Vikings an 18-17 lead with 9:46 to play.

After a two-point conversion pass to Adam Thielen, the Vikings were up 20-17. But McCarthy was about to go for the kill. With the Vikings driving into Bears territory, McCarthy took a zone read and darted toward the far pylon. While most quarterbacks would have slid or gotten down to avoid contact, McCarthy barrelled into the end zone for a touchdown that put Minnesota ahead 27-17.

With each play, the team followed McCarthy’s lead, and momentum started to build. A defense that couldn’t chase down Caleb Williams began to get stops. Myles Price settled in as a returner and finished with 114 total return yards. Jordan Mason got the ground game going, and the Vikings came from behind to win.

Ideally, things will get easier for McCarthy, and Monday’s game will be a building block for success. But it was also a middle finger to those who wondered what made McCarthy so special and why people were bullish on him despite working in a run-oriented approach at Michigan.

In the end, it was McCarthy not hearing the bell that provided the difference. And he may become the elusive franchise quarterback the Vikings have been seeking.