When Monday night’s game was over, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell admitted that being down 17-6 in the fourth quarter on the road with a quarterback making his first NFL start was not where he wanted to find his team.

J.J. McCarthy threw an interception that the Bears returned for a touchdown and generally struggled to move the team in his first meaningful game since winning the national title with Michigan after the 2023 season. O’Connell said “you hope to not have this chapter be the first chapter” while discussing his feelings at the moment, but a major plot twist was coming.

McCarthy threw a touchdown to Justin Jefferson to close the gap to five points, found Aaron Jones to give the Vikings their first lead of the night, and then ran for his first NFL touchdown on the way to an i

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