It was a rollercoaster ride for Minnesota Vikings starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy in the 27-24 win over the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football at Soldier Field.
McCarthy and the Minnesota offense managed just six points through three quarters, while the Vikings' second-year quarterback also threw a pick-six. Nonetheless, the Michigan product and his team came alive in the fourth quarter, registering 21 points for the comeback win.
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Although most of the game didn't go as planned, CBS Sports analyst Emory Hunt stated that McCarthy didn't make a bad situation worse to ensure that the contest didn't get out of hand.
"What I love is that he didn't make a bad play worse," Hunt said on "CBS Sports HQ." "If there was something that wasn't going to be right the first time, he didn't compound it by making another mistake. He was just kind of, 'Okay, let me just give it what I got from the defense, give it to the running back. I'm also using my legs, buy some time, maybe get rid of the football.' But he stayed locked in.
"I know he's big and meditating and all that stuff. We saw that at Michigan, but that helped him in this ball game because it didn't go according to plan. It truly went ahead where he looked awful in the first quarter, looked out of sorts, and then stayed neutral, stayed the course."
Hunt also stated that once the Vikings found their run game, it allowed McCarthy to find the form that many expect from him. Moreover, when Minnesota needed its young quarterback to make a play, he did so.
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"The run game helped get him back into a groove, get him back to neutral," Hunt added. "And then when they needed him, like we talked about the pregame, ‘Hey, just make your five plays.’ He made his five plays. Two of them were touchdowns. One was a touchdown pass to [Justin] Jefferson. That was a great throw in that situation.
"And the last one was when he took off around the right end and outraged everyone to the end zone. So he stayed locked in. He made plays that were there to be made, and he didn't compound bad mistakes. So this was a great rookie performance for a young guy, and you hope that he could avoid the first start and play games like he did in the fourth quarter completely."