J.J. McCarthy Sounds Off on Vikings’ Comeback Win Over Bears
Minnesota Vikings signal-caller J.J. McCarthy didn’t look like he had it together in the slightest for the opening three quarters of his first NFL start against the Chicago Bears on “Monday Night Football,” but then winning time arrived and he flipped the script completely.
McCarthy led Minnesota to three straight touchdowns in the final stanza, turning an 11-point deficit into a 10-point lead and ultimately a three-point win at Soldier Field on September 8.
Wide receiver Justin Jefferson went the first three periods without a catch before nabbing two balls on the Vikings’ first possession of the fourth quarter, including a 13-yard touchdown. On the next drive, McCarthy linked up with running back Aaron Jones for a TD pass and made good on a subsequent two-point conversion to put Minnesota up 20-17.
McCarthy then used his feet to rush for a 14-yard score that put the Vikings up 10 points and proved the game-sealing drive, even though the Bears found the end zone once more and got possession back deep in their own territory with nine seconds remaining on the clock.
The 22-year-old Vikings QB spoke with sideline reporter Lisa Salters at relative length following the game.
“It’s surreal, your first NFL win,” McCarthy said of his experience Monday. “Getting the win, that’s what I’ll remember most. Justing being here in [my] hometown, it’s a dream come true. To all the kids out there, it’s possible. And I just love my guys and can’t wait to go to war next week.”
J.J. McCarthy, Vikings Teammates Gelled as Game Progressed
Salters asked what changed for McCarthy following an interception he threw early in the third quarter, which Bears cornerback Nashon Wright returned 74 yards for a touchdown, putting Chicago up 11 points.
“Honestly, we were just figuring it out,” McCarthy responded. “We were playing one play at a time. And coach [Kevin] O’Connell got in some great play calls, and we just executed.”
Salters pressed the young QB for more insight on what went so wrong for the first three quarters and how he flipped it into something so right down the final 15-minute stretch.
“It’s just all 11 being on the same page. I feel like it’s game one, there’s a lot of things we gotta clean up,” McCarthy said. “But I was really, really proud of how we responded because there’s gonna be a lot of gritty games in the future.”
Salters noted that McCarthy remained upbeat and vocal on the sidelines throughout the tough portions of the evening and asked him what he said to his teammates during those interactions.
“That we gotta believe. That’s one thing we can do,” McCarthy said. “It’s as simple as that.”
J.J. McCarthy Turned Nightmare Stat Line Into Quality Performance With Outstanding Fourth Quarter
McCarthy finished the night 13-of-20 through the air, putting up 143 yards passing, 2 TDs and 1 INT. His QB rating on the evening was 98.3.
He also rushed the football twice for a total of 25 yards and one score.
Minnesota (1-0) will take on the Atlanta Falcons (0-1) at home next Sunday, September 14.
Packers’ Colby Wooden Fires Back at Critics After Dominant Run Defense Performance
Micah Parsons, a contrarian opinion had taken hold, too–the Packers defense would get chewed up in the running game.Three days before the Packers were to play the Detroit Lions in their 2025 opener, defensive lineman Colby Wooden got a phone call. It was his father. While much attention had been foisted on the Packers in recent days after the stunning trade for pass-rusher
The Packers had to trade away stalwart defensive lineman Kenny Clark to acquire Parsons, and the feeling was, that would be costly in the team’s efforts to handle the run. Detroit, after all, rushed for 2,488 yards last season, sixth in the NFL. Without Clark, surely the Packers would be in trouble.
Wooden, who is helping replace Clark in the middle, took the call from his dad, who said, “Do me a favor, shut ‘em up.”
And he, along with the entire Packers defensive front, did just that, holding the Lions to 46 yards on 22 carries, their lowest rushing output since Week 6 in 2023. Wooden, Devonte Wyatt and Karl Brooks held the line admirably in the middle all day for the Packers.
Colby Wooden: ‘I Took That Personal’
Wooden, for one, was insulted by the questions about the team’s inability to hold against the run.
“I for sure took that personal …” Wooden said. “So I just, did my job, went out there, stopped the run. I took it personal. Honestly, I felt like it was kinda disrespectful, like, ‘Oh, they gonna run the ball.’ So I made it my mission—we, excuse me—we made it our mission to shut them down.”
That’s not easy to do against the combo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, nicknamed Sonic and Knuckles.
“We know what they want to do,” Wooden said. “Last year, they wanted to run. They call them Sonic and Knuckles, or whatever. They want to run them 30 times. So we know they want to run that ball. We’ve got to do our job to stop the run so they can get back and let (Parsons) go get them.”
Packers Filling Roles With Micah Parsons on Board
Wooden said the effect of having Parsons on the field was obvious, and it works both ways. When offenses focus on corralling Parsons, the other Packers must step up.
“Everybody’s got a job to do, everybody got a role,” Wooden said. “Everybody’s got to buy into their role. We know what attention and what he comes with. And we know we got to stop that run, go help him out, if he is getting is getting chipped, doubled or whatever, now it’s somebody else’s turn to win their one-on-one.”
Packers Have Commanders Next
And despite the obviously encouraging results, Wooden is not getting ahead of himself. The Commanders will be next on the docket, with fearsome young quarterback Jayden Daniels on hand.
“It’s just one week,” Wooden said. “It’s Week 1. It’s great to start off with a win, dominate. But we’ve got to keep it going. We got a good team coming here on Thursday, we know we got to be ready to stop that run and contain that quarterback. So we just gotta keep going, keep getting better, keep jelling.”
