5 Takeaways from the Minnesota Vikings’ Impressive Comeback against the Bears
The Minnesota Vikings headed to Soldier Field to take on the Chicago Bears in their regular season opener.
For awhile, it looked grim for the purple team during J.J. McCarthy’s NFL debut, particularly after the young QB threw a pick-six to former Viking Nahshon Wright. However, the team regrouped and scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to steal a win from their division rivals by a score of 27-24.
Here are five takeaways from the impressive comeback victory.
1. Fourth Quarter J.J. McCarthy Was Astounding
There were a lot of things working against J.J. McCarthy on Monday night. He was making his NFL debut in hostile territory on one of the biggest stages he could face, opening the season on the standalone stage of Monday Night Football.
Things got off to about as rough of a start as they could have for McCarthy as the Vikings went three-and-out in four of their six drives during the first half and fell into a 10-6 hole going into halftime. Then, McCarthy opened the second half by throwing that pick-six to Wright, digging the Vikings even deeper, 17-6, before the Vikings punted on each of their next two drives heading into the fourth quarter.
Then, fourth quarter magic happened. McCarthy led the Vikings on three straight touchdown drives, capping things off with a gutsy 14-yard run to seal the deal. On those three drives, McCarthy completed six of his eight passes for 87 yards and a pair of touchdown passes. Don’t forget the two-point conversion to Adam Thielen, either.
Ultimately, there will be a lot of ups and downs throughout McCarthy’s first season as a starting QB, but as long as those ups continue to happen when it matters most, this could be a very fun season in Minnesota.
2. Vikings Sorely Missed Christian Darrisaw
Adding onto the challenges facing McCarthy in his NFL debut was the fact that the Vikings were missing one of the best left tackles in the entire league.
With Justin Skule in the lineup, who was making just his 18th NFL start to begin his sixth season, it was clear that Minnesota’s offensive line was not the same, particularly early on in the game. McCarthy was constantly facing pressure from a talented Bears defensive front and was sacked three times.
The Vikings have similar challenges coming up in their schedule, especially in Week 3 when they face the Trey Hendrickson and the Cincinnati Bengals. Hopefully, Darrisaw will be back in the lineup by then.
3. Aaron Jones, Jordan Mason Complement Each Other Perfectly
The Minnesota Vikings may have something brewing in their backfield this season. While part of it may be improvements made to the interior of the offensive line, the duo of Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason made it look like the Vikings may have finally fixed a rushing attack that has been pretty subpar throughout Kevin O’Connell’s head coaching tenure.
Jones and Mason combined for 142 yards from scrimmage, and they did it in different ways. Mason was the main guy handling the carries, bullying his way to 68 rushing yards on his 15 carries. Meanwhile, Jones did his damage as a receiver, which was when he was at his best throughout his tenure with the Green Bay Packers. The veteran caught three passes for 44 yards and a nifty 27-yard touchdown reception.
If these two can stay healthy, the Vikings may finally have a recipe for success when it comes to January football.
4. Punt Returner Position Fixed?
For years, it has been a massive challenge for the Vikings to find consistent success at the punt returner position. However, Myles Price may be the answer to turning those woes around.
Price put on a clinic as the return man for the Vikings on Monday night. He returned four punts for a total of 68 yards, averaging 17 yards per return. The best part about Price’s night was the consistency. Here’s the result of each of his returns:
- 9 yards
- 20 yards
- 17 yards
- 22 yards
There weren’t any atrocious returns, and there weren’t any crazy breakaway returns to make the overall numbers look better than they were. It was blissful consistency from Price as the return man. Hopefully, that continues moving forward.
5. Blake Cashman’s Injury Is Cause for Concern
The glass of cold water poured on this win for the Vikings is the fact that star linebacker Blake Cashman suffered a hamstring injury.
Cashman was a cog of glue in the Vikings defense throughout 2024, and when he wasn’t on the field, it was noticeable. Fans will remember Cashman missed three games last season. The Vikings lost two of them and gave up at least 30 points in both losses.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell said after the game that Cashman will be evaluated with an MRI, so hopefully, everything comes back clean and he can get back on the field sooner than later to continue being a leader for Minnesota’s defense.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via ESPN and Pro Football Reference.
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