Vikings come alive in the fourth quarter to beat Bears

JJ McCarthy and Jordan Mason led a furious comeback after a brutal start to the game

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By Matthew Coller

CHICAGO — Welcome back, football.

The Minnesota Vikings pulled off an incredible fourth quarter comeback in JJ McCarthy’s debut. Here’s how it went down…

FIRST QUARTER

JJ McCarthy’s first three snaps looked like the first three snaps that someone had ever taken in a career. On the opening play, he barely got the snap off after making a change at the line of scrimmage. Aaron Jones ran short out of bounds and then the Vikings went no huddle. You can’t call it “up tempo” no huddle because the clock nearly ran out on him again. Still, McCarthy was able to roll out and complete a short pass to Josh Oliver for his first career completion. On third-and-short, he attempted to run and was taken down for a three-and-out.

Both quarterbacks entered the night with a lot of pressure but Caleb Williams arguably had more on his shoulders because the last six months were spent questioning whether he can live up to the expectations of the No. 1 overall pick. The Bears changed coaches and brought in an offensive mind known for creating open wide receivers and building a passing game based on timing and play-action. More or less: If it doesn’t work with this coach, it might not ever work.

Williams started out looking exactly the way he looked last year. He hung onto the ball, looking around to do something out of structure. While that was a proper criticism of the former USC QB, there’s something important to remember: He is really good at that. After several backyard-looking completions, he turned up the heat with a rollout laser beam to Rome Odunze for 17 yards to get the Bears in scoring position.

The Vikings’ defense looked confused, gassed and flustered. They were running hockey line changes with DBs and D-linemen running around everywhere. We saw Jalen Redmond, Ty Ingram-Dawkins and Levi Drake Rodriguez on the first drive.

None of them stopped Williams as he scrambled for the first touchdown of the game. 7-0 Bears.

Right away, the pressure was flipped over to McCarthy.

The second drive went much like the first. Kevin O’Connell found a way to get the ball into Justin Jefferson’s hands with a screen that went for four yards. A 2-yard run set them up with third-and-short again. And again, McCarthy couldn’t find a place to go with the football and was taken down.

With almost no rest, the defense trotted back on the field.

Williams came out with plenty of confidence in his style of playing quarterback. He dropped back on second-and-long, looked downfield for a second and then scrambled for another first down. For those that remember Michael Vick, that’s what it looked like.

But after a short completion, a screen pass went backward and the Bears were forced to punt. Finally, a breath of air for the defense.

Jordan Mason entered the game to get a little more brute force on the field. He started out with a 6-yard run and then blasted forward for a first down.

SECOND QUARTER

With the first quarter in the books, O’Connell decided to take a shot. With Aaron Jones out as a wide receiver, he ran a go route down the sideline. McCarthy aired it out and Jones was taken down for a 32-yard penalty to bring the Vikings into Bear territory. McCarthy then took off for another first down.

On third-and-8 inside the 15, McCarthy targeted Jefferson but threw the ball too low and Jefferson couldn’t haul the ball in. Usually he gets that one. Will Reichard banged home his first kick of the year. 7-3.

The Vikings gave up a big return and committed a penalty, giving the Bears good field position with just over 12 minutes left in the half. Williams opened the drive with all day to throw the ball and found DJ Moore for 30 yards. Not great. It was Williams’ 10th straight completion to open the game.

He went full Vick mode after that, dodging Ivan Pace Jr. on a blitz and then escaping the hands of Jonathan Greenard and then spinning to avoid Byron Murphy Jr.’s tackle. It was just about as spectacular of an 8-yard play as you’ll ever see.

A pre-snap penalty and D’Andre Swift run set up fourth down. Williams dropped back, had a receiver wide open over the middle of the field and the QB missed by a mile. Vikings ball. An enormous break.

As McCarthy took over for his fourth drive, the yardage count was 130 to 36. They needed to get something going through the air.

He completed his first pass to Hockenson and then failed again on third-and-short. McCarthy found Jefferson but he was taken down short of the sticks. Not running a route past the first-down marker was unacceptable for any player, much less Jefferson.

Asking the defense to keep chasing Williams all night while they go three-and-out is not an effective strategy. Bears ball, 6:52 left in the half.

After a knocked down pass by Ingram-Dawkins, the Bears committed a holding penalty and then Williams was chased out of the pocket and out of bounds, forcing a punt. A three-and-out is what the Vikings badly needed there.

The next drive started out with a big Jordan Mason run that was brought back by a Justin Skule hold. The presence of Christian Darrisaw was sorely, sorely missed in the first half as Skule was struggling to competently hold down the position.

McCarthy then had back-to-back passes knocked down. A screen pass on third-and-long ended well short of the marker and the Vikings punted again.

Yardage update: 132 to 51, advantage Bears with 4:28 left to go in the half.

During Bears camp, there were reports of a bunch of pre-snap issues. They started the drive with their fourth of the game to move the offense back. But Williams made it up right away with a wide open completion in the middle of the field, in very Lions-Goff fashion against Flores’ defense.

The Vikings came up with a big stop on third down when Murphy Jr. chased down Odunze on an underneath throw to force a field goal. 10-3 Bears.

It could be so, so, so much worse.

McCarthy’s best moment of the game came via O’Connell’s aggressiveness. He hit Jalen Nailor for a 28-yard gain setting up a 59-yard field goal by Will Reichard.

10-6.

Again, it could be so much worse.

THIRD QUARTER

Williams started out the third quarter looking like a totally different quarterback.

He started out with three straight passes from the pocket, all of which looked like they were thrown by Nathan Peterman. On third down, his pass was way behind the intended receiver and the Bears punted.

After the best punt return we have seen in years (20 yards) by Myles Price, McCarthy took a high hit for a 15-yard penalty. Without doing a thing, they were back in field goal position.

Then disaster struck.

On third-and-long, McCarthy had his first absolutely brutal rookie mistake. On third-and-8, he stared down his receiver on an out route and tossed it right into the hands of former Viking Nahshon Wright for a pick-six.

From looking like they were going to get rolling to 17-6.

Yikes.

When they got the ball back, the absence of Darrisaw was felt again as Justin Skule was beaten around the edge for a sack. Another third-and-long.

And then they took a delay of game penalty.

Punt.

Yikes.

Williams came back out with a strong opening play, whipping a pass toward a wide open DJ Moore for a 22-yard gain to instantly get Chicago to mid-field. But the momentum died out quickly with a blown-up screen and a short third down pass, forcing another punt.

As bad as it has been, with 7:40 left in the third and an 11 point deficit, things were still in reach.

Price had another terrific return of 17 yards, giving the Vikings a chance to get going.

A bootleg and screen yielded eight yards and then set up another third-and-short. Thielen couldn’t bring in would-be first down as the ball was batted away from him and the Vikings punted again.

As bad as McCarthy has been, he has received zero help from his offensive line or wide receivers.

With 4:35 left, the Bears had an opportunity to put the Vikings in a big hole. Williams got back to doing what he’s done best: Running away. He scrambled for a 13-yard gain while escaping four Vikings defenders. Linebacker Blake Cashman appeared to hurt his hamstring while running full speed chasing the QB.

Ben Johnson, the former Lions OC, knows a time to start running the ball when he sees one. D’Andre Swift ripped off a big gain, putting Chicago in scoring position.

The Vikings caught a break with a holding call on the Bears that took away a potential back-breaking play. Williams then was finally corralled by the Vikings defense and was called for intentional grounding.

FOURTH QUARTER

Chicago missed on a 50-yard field goal and the game was still very much alive.

Jordan Mason, who was barely used in the middle portion of the game, reintroduced himself with a 7-yard run and then an explosive 18-yard carry. McCarthy then hit his best throw of the night, an 18-yard completion to Jefferson on a deep out route and immediately the Vikings were in scoring position.

Another Mason run and batted ball set up a pivotal third down. McCarthy dropped back, stepped into a throw and ripped his first career touchdown to Jefferson.

The two-point conversion failed on a great tackle by Jonathan Owens on Josh Oliver. It was a very questionable decision by O’Connell to pass on the two-point attempt with the way Mason was slamming down their throat. In fact, borderline unjustifiable to do anything except run.

17-12, Bears. Oh, it’s a game now.

Suddenly, more life. To start Chicago’s next drive, Javon Hargrave ripped through the D-line to get his first sack as a Viking. He won so quickly that even Williams couldn’t run away. After a stuffed run, the Bears faced third-and-19. Andrew Van Ginkel came within inches of picking off Williams and walking in to the end zone for the lead.

Nonetheless, the Vikings forced a three-and-out.

Price pulled out another good return, setting up the Vikings in striking distance. After a strong run by Jones, McCarthy delivered a good throw to Jefferson but he couldn’t bring the ball in on a high throw. On third-and-1, O’Connell got cute by throwing the ball — as if Jordan Mason hadn’t been completely dominating — but they got bailed out by a pass interference call.

On the next throw, McCarthy showed everything that he did in training camp. Poise, execution, throwing the ball to Aaron Jones. He floated the ball up over the Bears defense for a go-ahead touchdown.

Williams came back out with a shot to settle things down. He completed a pass over the middle, but followed that up with a sack and two overthrows.

The first boos of the year came flying down from Bears fans.

Then the Vikings got another big special teams play, a punt block from Eric Wilson — who was one of the best low-key signings of the offseason.

Mason came back in the game and blasted forward into Bears territory.

McCarthy, suddenly looking confident, completed a throw to Hockenson to set up a third-and-1. This time KOC did not make the same mistake and pounded forward with Mason for a first down.

McCarthy completed a rollout pass to Jones for another first down to the 23-yard line. A screen to Jefferson set up the dagger.

KOC called a QB run, which McCarthy executed to perfection, scrambling in for the touchdown.

With under three minutes remaining, Williams hit Cole Kmet for a 31-yard gain. The tight end made an incredible one-handed reception to get the drive going. But Williams overthrew two more passes as he continued to spray the ball.

Ivan Pace Jr. committed a roughing penalty to move the Bears inside the 15-yard line with 2:12 left to go. Williams would not die easy, scrambling for another touchdown. However, he went out at the 1-yard line, which turned out to be irrelevant because he scored instantly on a throw to Odunze.

The Vikings got the ball back with under two minutes remaining and only one Chicago timeout. Mason. Mason. Mason.

The Bears got the ball back with nine seconds left and did not have a miracle in them.

The Vikings are now 1-0.

The bottom line…

The first three quarters looked like they were played by a first-time starting quarterback and a team that was unprepared to be playing with a first-time starting quarterback. But once McCarthy shook off his first big mistake, he showed all the reasons that the Vikings placed their bets on him this offseason. He was in command, made plays with his athleticism and remained confident despite the tough start.

McCarthy is hardly the only one who sucked it up and pulled out the W. Mason proved that they can have a nasty run game. Jones showed his talent for catching the ball. The defense chased Williams and shut him down in the second half.

In the end, it was a gritty win. It won’t be the last that they need this year.

On to next week…

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