Neal: After slow start, J.J. McCarthy reveals qualities that give Vikings hope for future

CHICAGO – In one game, we saw J.J. McCarthy at his worst, the Vikings hope.

Then we saw McCarthy respond to adversity. And the reasons to be optimistic became evident.

After his performance on “Monday Night Football” — in which he picked himself and the Vikings off the mat to score 21 points in the fourth quarter — I want more of the down moments if the ups mean more endings like the 27-24 victory over the Bears at Soldier Field.

Because if McCarthy has the gift of helping a team rise from the ashes over the course of 60 minutes of game action, the future of Vikings football could be in pretty good shape.

He has the support of his coach — although Kevin O’Connell opted for a 59-yard field goal with 11 seconds and no timeouts left instead of giving the kid a chance to take a shot at the end zone. He has the backing of his teammates, who voted him captain before the season began.

We had only seen McCarthy during drills, a couple of scrimmages against the Patriots and some preseason action. Until Monday. That’s when the J.J. McCarthy era truly began and he showed the traits that those who spend more time with him see up close.

In the first half, McCarthy struggled as the Chicago defense threw some schemes the Vikings weren’t prepared for. He seemed unsure of where to go with the ball, and the Bears were hunting for sacks. A boisterous crowd made communication at the line of scrimmage challenging.

That was rock bottom.

“The cornerback knows it’s an all-out zero [blitz],” O’Connell said. “[Wright] learned how to play pretty good zero coverage here.”

How McCarthy absorbed his epic failure revealed something about him.

“You know, you never want to earn wisdom that way,” McCarthy said before mentioning that he did the same thing twice in the 2022 CFP semifinals for Michigan against Texas Christian.

Later in the third quarter, McCarthy looked at his teammates in the Vikings huddle and said: “Where else would you rather be?”

McCarthy and the Vikings then turned the game around, grabbing momentum after a Cairo Santos 50-yard field goal that would have made the score 20-6 sailed wide right to start the fourth quarter. The Vikings took over at their 40-yard line, then marched toward the end zone.

McCarthy was on the money with a 17-yard pass to Jefferson to reach the Bears 18. The six-play drive ended when he hit Jefferson across the middle for a 13-yard score. Less than 2½ minutes later, McCarthy connected with Aaron Jones for a 27-yard touchdown, and Vikings fans could be heard roaring in the stadium for the first time all night.

McCarthy had snatched momentum away from the Bears. And he suddenly began to outplay counterpart Caleb Williams. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft misfired on several makeable throws and failed to spot a handful of receivers who had separation down the field. He is entertaining when he’s running around like someone is controlling him with a video game controller, though.

Good luck, Ben Johnson, you have your work cut out with Williams.

McCarthy grew as the game went along, and so did the Vikings’ fortunes. The quarterback capped his evening by taking a read option into the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown run that gave the Vikings a 27-17 lead. He finished 13-for-20 for 143 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. But he was 6-for-8 for 87 yards, the two touchdowns and a 149.5 passer rating when he took over the game in the fourth quarter.

If you want to argue that the Bears and Williams did more to lose Monday than the Vikings did to win, consider this:

The Vikings saw poise, composure and in-game growth from their quarterback who had not played in a serious game for more than 600 days. On the road. Against a division rival. During an island game. For his NFL debut.

Without starting left tackle Christian Darrisaw and without wideout Jordan Addison.

Not too shabby.

We don’t know where this journey is headed. But we saw evidence of one thing Monday.