J.J. McCarthy's rally from rough start not enough, Vikings lose to Bears 19-17

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - J.J. McCarthy’s alter ego "Nine" showed up just in time Sunday, but it wasn't enough as the Minnesota Vikings lost to the Chicago Bears 19-17 at U.S. Bank Stadium.

McCarthy nearly led Minnesota back to an improbable victory after struggling all day, but the Bears left with the NFC North Division lead and 7-3 record after a Cairo Santos field goal. The Vikings fall to 4-6, and just 1-4 at home this season. They also stay at the bottom of the NFC North Division standings with seven regular season games left, and their playoff hopes are starting to fade.

The big play

How it happened:

Trailing 16-10 and with their quarterback struggling all afternoon, McCarthy led the Vikings on what was at the time a go-ahead scoring drive. He hit Jordan Addison on a fourth down to keep the game alive, then hit Addison for a 15-yard touchdown with 50 seconds left in regulation to give Minnesota a 17-16 lead.

Devin Duvernay answered for the Bears, taking the ensuing kickoff 56 yards to the Minnesota 40-yard line. It set up a 48-yard game-winning field goal for Santos as time expired. Santos had just missed from 47 yards out, but tucked the final kick just inside the left upright.

"We’ve learned some hard lessons on that margin, that razor thin margin of what these games come down to. I think there’s a lot of things, whether that field goal goes through at the end or not, for us to become the team we want to be, we’ve got to work towards those things in all three phases," Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell said after the loss.

Do the Vikings have a QB problem?

What we know:

McCarthy missed all of last season with a knee injury, and five games this year with an ankle injury. When healthy, he has largely struggled, other than the fourth quarter on opening night at Chicago. But this was without question McCarthy’s worst game thus far in Minnesota. He finished 16-of-32 for 150 yards, two interceptions and one touchdown.

He regularly missed receivers on what should’ve been simple completions, and also suffered from seven drops. It’s only his fifth career start, and O’Connell won’t deviate from his plan, but the outside noise will only get louder the more McCarthy struggles.

"Absolutely sucks, gut-wrenching loss for us. I need to do a better job of my decision-making, the accuracy needs to change, I need to be better. The thing is just growing at the end of the day," McCarthy said.

The Vikings let Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones go, who are now thriving with the Seattle Seahawks and Indianapolis Colts, after moving up in the 2024 NFL Draft to take McCarthy. It’s going to take time, but through five starts, McCarthy's potential and what's happening on the field are two very different things.

"It’s part of the young QB journey, it’s just results like today. Especially when you fight through it all and get the lead, you’d love to be making a lot of those growth coaching points with a one-point win. What’s best for the young quarterback, what’s best for our offense, what’s best for the team, that’s my job to manage all those things and I’ve got to do a better job of that," O'Connell said.

O'Connell wouldn't entertain a question post game about what performance it would take to consider benching McCarthy.

"I’m not going to get into any of that right now," O'Connell said.

Defense does its part

Why you should care:

The Vikings’ defense held the Bears to 320 yards, sacked Caleb Williams twice and forced four Santos field goals. But with McCarthy and the offense struggling, they needed to generate a turnover or even get a score.

Packers next

What's next:

The Vikings now head to Lambeau Field to face the Green Bay Packers, who are coming off a 27-20 win over the New York Giants.