Despite trailing 17-6 to start the fourth quarter, the Minnesota Vikings outscored the Chicago Bears 21-7 in the last 15 minutes of tonight’s game to spoil Ben Johnson’s head coaching debut 27-24.
Minnesota quarterback J.J. McCarthy was able to overcome a terrible start by throwing for 77 yards and recording three total touchdowns in the fourth quarter of this matchup. He finished by going 13 for 20 with 143 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, 25 rushing yards, a ground TD, and an interception.
It was an up-and-down evening for Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. In his first game under Ben Johnson, Williams completed 21 of 35 passes for 211 yards, a passing TD, 58 rushing yards, and a rushing touchdown.
The new-look Bears offense got off to a fast start. After forcing a three-and-out, Chicago put together a ten-play, 61-yard drive that was capped off with a nine-yard rushing touchdown by Caleb Williams, the first rushing TD of his NFL career. This was a new experience for the second-year QB since Chicago didn’t have a single opening-drive touchdown last year.
The J.J. McCarthy era did not get off to the same type of start that the Ben Johnson era did. The Vikings punted on their first two possessions after McCarthy took sacks on back-to-back third downs.
Minnesota finally got something going thanks to a 42-yard pass interference penalty on the Bears. However, their drive stalled out in the red zone, so they had to kick a field goal, which made it 7-3 in the second quarter.
Both the Bears and Vikings managed to put together field goal drives before the break, so Chicago went into halftime ahead 10-6. Outside of the Bears’ first offensive possession, these squads combined for just 194 total yards of offense through the first two quarters of the game.
The offensive struggles continued into the second half when the Bears went three-and-out on their first drive. On the other end, J.J. McCarthy threw an interception that was returned 74 yards for a touchdown to put Chicago up 17-6. That interception was brought back by cornerback Nahshon Wright, who was a member of the Vikings’ practice squad last season.
An incredibly promising Bears series that made it down to Minnesota’s 24 yard line was derailed by a slew of penalties. Flags for holding and intentional grounding forced Chicago to settle for a 12-yard gain on a 3rd and 30, which ultimately led to a missed field goal to start the fourth quarter.
That miss sparked new life in the Vikings. Minnesota All-Pro wideout Justin Jefferson caught a 13-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter that allowed the Vikes to cut the lead to 17-12. That TD pass was Minnesota’s first third-down conversion of the evening. Up to that point, they had gone 0/8 on third-down attempts.
On Minnesota’s next possession, running back Aaron Jones made a fantastic 27-yard catch to give the Vikings their first lead of the night, 20-17, after a successful two-point conversion. He finished the game with 67 total yards and a receiving touchdown.
After forcing a quick three-and-out, the Vikings put together a nine-play, 61-yard drive that shaved a little over four-and-a-half minutes off the clock. That series ended with a 14-yard touchdown run by J.J. McCarthy to extend Minnesota’s lead to 27-17.
Chicago bounced back, though. Caleb Williams found wide receiver Rome Odunze wide open in the back of the end zone for a one-yard touchdown reception to close the gap and make it 27-24 with 2:02 left in the game.
The Vikings went three-and-out on the ensuing drive but were able to run the clock down to just 16 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Though the Bears got the ball back, they didn’t have enough time to make anything happen as Minnesota would hold firm to secure the win.
*Author’s note: all information and statistics are tracked in real time and are provided by the game’s broadcaster, NFL.com, and ESPN.com*
