Skip to main content
Advertising

News | Minnesota Vikings – vikings.com

Presented by

NFL Power Rankings: Vikings Earn Slight Movement After Comeback Victory Over Bears

"Life moves pretty fast…"

The beginning of Matthew Broderick's iconic quote in Ferris Bueller's Day Off certainly rang true for Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy during his NFL debut on Monday Night Football at Chicago.

McCarthy's return to his hometown – while certainly welcoming from a personal standpoint – wasn't the friendliest on the field, as the raucous Chicago crowd and a hungry Bears defense put the second-year QB to the test right away.

Not only did the 22-year-old absorb the pressures and any mistakes associated with a long-awaited debut (609 days from his last competitive game at Michigan) – including throwing his first career pick six – he turned it into a kinetic performance when he needed to the most and helped the Vikings (1-0) rally from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to take down Chicago 27-24.

The season-opening win gives Minnesota its first six-game win streak in Chicago in franchise history. The Vikings are now 37-27-1 in season openers.

The victory also caused some movement for the Vikings in this week's Power Rankings, with the biggest jump being two spots. Here's a look at where the Vikings landed heading into Week 2 (scroll below for more on McCarthy):

No. 11 (up 1 spot): Eric Edholm – NFL.com

Entering the fourth quarter, J.J. McCarthy's first start was nothing short of a nightmare. He'd completed 7 of 12 passes for 56 yards, taken three sacks and thrown a pick six that put the Vikings in a 17-6 hole. But when the Bears missed a field goal that would've given them a two-touchdown lead, something clicked in McCarthy – and he went nuclear. A lot of credit goes to Kevin O'Connell, who truly feels like one of the league's best coaches. But years from now, if McCarthy ultimately hits it big in this league, people will talk about his fourth quarter in Chicago. Suddenly flipping the switch in his first regular-season game, he led three brilliant TD drives, notching two scores with his arm and one with his legs, plus a two-point toss to Adam Thielen. Meanwhile, Brian Flores' 'defense started getting home on pass rushes, making Caleb Williams pretty uncomfortable after halftime. But the night belonged to McCarthy – a Bears fan growing up – finding his way through some serious adversity.

No. 13 (up 2 spots): Brent Sobleski – Bleacher Report

Kirk Cousins. Sam Darnold. J.J. McCarthy. It doesn't matter who is at quarterback with Kevin O'Connell serving as Minnesota Vikings head coach/offensive play-caller.

Even with McCarthy, who didn't have the same experience as the previous two veteran QBs, O'Connell allowed him to gain confidence throughout his first start.

Minnesota punted four times during the first half against the Chicago Bears. While saying the game became a tale of two halves is cliche, it rings true in this instance, because the Vikings scored three consecutive touchdowns [in the fourth quarter].

McCarthy's confidence grew in real time, which led the Vikings to a victory after trailing by 11 in the fourth quarter.

A previous thought circulated that the Vikings might take a half or even a full step back this season as they transitioned to the 22-year-old as their starting quarterback.

After Monday's performance, they should remain among the NFC's elite until proven otherwise.

View the Vikings in Big Head Mode following their Monday Night Football win over the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.

No. 14 (no change): Pete Prisco – CBS Sports

Quarterback J.J. McCarthy bounced back after a bad start against the Bears, which is a great sign for the season. The defense also came alive.

No. 15 (no change): Nate Davis – USA Today

[Minnesota Vikings] Or is it Michigan? It wasn't necessarily pretty, but QB J.J. McCarthy made the plays when he needed to, otherwise relying on a very talented supporting cast, as his team won its Big Ten, er NFC North, opener.

No. 12 (down 2 spots): Josh Kendall – The Athletic

It was a nightmare start for J.J. McCarthy. He looked overwhelmed, every bit the rookie making his first start on the road on Monday Night Football. But Kevin O'Connell kept encouraging his 22-year-old QB and delivered a play-calling clinic to aid McCarthy's incredible bounce-back performance as the Vikings turned around a 17-6 deficit.

View postgame celebration photos from the Vikings 27-24 win over the Bears on in Week 1 of the 2025 season.

No. 11 (up 1 spot): Conor Orr – Sports Illustrated

J.J. McCarthy had an applause-worthy comeback emotionally in this game. He rode the wave of looking completely helpless against a defense teeing off on him (and no running game) to stepping up and making a handful of ace throws in major clutch situations. He's going to be just fine, especially now that we've seen the resilience factor play out on a big stage.

No. 15 (up 1 spot): Vinnie Iyer – Sporting News

The Vikings also made a division statement on Monday night by coming back to beat the Bears after seeing the Packers dispatch the Lions to get a jump. J.J. McCarthy came through late as the early the key to keeping Minnesota's edge with Kevin O'Connell.

No. 8 (down 1 spot): Frank Schwab – Yahoo! Sports

Many quarterbacks would have folded in their first start if they played like J.J. McCarthy did in the first three quarters. McCarthy stayed in the fight and had two passing touchdowns and a rushing score in the fourth quarter of a comeback win. That was telling.

View game action photos from the Vikings at Bears Week 1 Monday Night Football game at Soldier Field.

More on McCarthy

According to NFL Research, McCarthy is the first starting quarterback since Tampa Bay's Steve Young in 1985 (against Detroit) to overcome a 10+ point deficit in the fourth quarter and win in his NFL debut. Achieving the feat on the road is even more rare, as McCarthy is the only such QB to do so since 1950.

He also became the first player since Cam Newton in 2011 to record multiple passing touchdowns and a score on the ground in his NFL debut and is the first player in league history to score three fourth-quarter touchdowns in his debut, per NFL Research.

It wasn't just league history that McCarthy set on Monday, he joined some exclusive company in franchise history as well. McCarthy is the first player with multiple passing TDs in a Vikings debut since Fran Tarkenton in the team's inaugural season in 1961. The team Tarkenton set the benchmark against? Chicago.

Monday's contest marked the 40th come-from-behind victory for the Vikings when trailing by 11+ points at any point in the game. Of those 40 wins, 13 have come with Minnesota behind by at least 11 points in the fourth quarter, with only three instances occurring on the road.

Two of those three road comeback wins happened against the Bears. The first was in Week 14 of the 1965 season, with the Vikings rallying from a 14-3 deficit in the fourth quarter to win 24-17 at Wrigley Field. In that game, Tarkenton threw a pair of touchdowns to Tom Hall and Gordie Smith while Rip Hawkins gave Minnesota the lead with a 35-yard pick six. The fourth-quarter comeback win was also the seventh of Tarkenton's career.

The only other such instance came in Week 13 of the 1985 season in Philadelphia. Trailing 23-0 after three quarters, Wade Wilson led the comeback effort with three touchdown passes, two to Anthony Carter and one to Allen Rice. Willie Teal added a 65-yard fumble return for a score to give Minnesota a 28-23 victory.

Additionally, of those 40 comeback wins, seven have been against the Bears (four at home, three on the road). Aside from the one previously mentioned in 1965 and Monday's outcome, the second instance that happened in Chicago was in Week 4 of the 1998 season. Despite leading going into the fourth quarter, the Vikings trailed by 11 at halftime before Randall Cunningham (in his second season with Minnesota) threw two touchdown passes in the third quarter (one to Andrew Glover and another to Cris Carter) and a third in the fourth quarter (to Randy Moss) to propel Minnesota to a 31-28 victory.

Check out the 2025 International games.

View future opponents for the Vikings.

Download the official Vikings App.

Advertising