Vikings-Bears Reaction: JJ McCarthy leads EPIC comeback vs Caleb Williams | Colin Cowherd NFL

Welcome to the official YouTube channel for the Colin Coward podcast. Go on, hit that subscribe button if you’re new so you don’t miss any of our great football content this season. This episode is presented by Uber Eats. When football makes you hungry, order Uber Eats. I do every weekend. All right, that that took a turn. So I said all week this was the one pick that didn’t make the Blazing Five. Uh I like the Vikings. I did not think it would look like this. Uh they win 27 to 24. What um I had a an executive in the league uh text me tonight in Kevin O’Connell we trust. He is so respected around the league and you just watched that running game for the Vikings develop in the second half and you watch JJ McCarthy gain confidence. Uh he he looked as bad as any quarterback I saw this weekend in the first two and a half quarters. Um, and tell me if I’m wrong on this, but JJ McCarthy reminds me a little of Baker Mayfield. Baker plays with a lot of emotion. And when Baker is feeling it, and you know, like a basketball player gets into his own, Baker hits a couple completions, his accuracy and his velocity noticeably improve. And JJ McCarthy, they were they were protecting him in the first half. um first start road game, didn’t take a lot of snaps in the preeason, and then all of a sudden he hit one throw. I forget if it was the Justin Jefferson. And from that point forward, you were watching a different quarterback, a completely different quarterback. The Viking, now the Vikings, listen, the Vikings have the better owner, they have the better front office, they have the more proven head coach, they have the better roster. The Vikings were favored on the road. They should be, but they didn’t play like it in the first half. But once JJ McCarthy in the fourth with a run game, now with confidence, now with a staff with confidence in him in the fourth quarter, six of eight, 149.5 passer rating, 101 yards, three touchdowns. Would you have predicted that watching the first three quarters of JJ McCarthy? And you are lying through your teeth if you say yes. I I joked on Twitter, he deserved comeback player of the week from first quarter to fourth. It was just an incredible turnaround. I I’ve never been a huge JJ McCarthy fan. I don’t see what trait, you know, I hear he’s a winner and he’s, you know, he’s got some alpha and he’s got pretty good feet and moves, but what you saw in the second half, it it does feel a little Baker Mayfield. He’s an emotional player and when he gets confidence and he gets rolling, he’s got some zip on the ball. And again, this team, there are Minnesota’s got real players. I mean, and Brian Flores and Kevin Okonnell, I I think I read about two months ago in the athletic an article in the best coaching staff in the league, head coach to coordinators, and Minnesota was number one, and I think Robert Solen, Kyle Shanahan were number two. So, I thought the game, I had said this on on Fox today, I thought the game would come down between the battle between Caleb Williams and Brian Flores. So, uh, Caleb was 10 for 10 when it was on script, right? Ben Johnson scripted plays. He was 10 for 10. And then what happened when they went off script after the 10 for 10 start, Caleb Williams was 10 of 24, 105 yards, and the Bears were riddled with pen penalties. They had a dozen, way too many. So, let let’s just start with JJ McCarthy. I think this is a very exciting time. So, you know, you have these young quarterbacks. It’s like Denver last year. It was a bumpy September for Bo Knicks. Then you look up and you’re like, “Oo, I think we found we made the playoffs. I think we we found our our franchise quarterback.” I said it with Justin Fields. My god, the Jets lost. You have to feel great. Have we found our guy? Jets have been looking forever. I think if you’re a Minnesota Vikings fan, you take that fourth quarter and you’re pretty fired up. I mean, you got outplayed for three quarters. You were trailing. I mean, the game kind of felt like you you if if you know, if Chicago when they were leading could just string some first downs together and and pin the Vikings and JJ McCarthy deep middle third quarter, you’re like, I’m not so sure if this game’s not over. But again, of the two teams, one of them, Minnesota’s really started turnurning out a running game, and that got better field position. That gave JJ McCarthy better second and third down options. they open up the playbook. Uh then you get some momentum, you’re winning the line of scrimmage. So that run game really helped kind of set the tone for Minnesota. They can get a little more aggressive with JJ. Then he hits a couple of passes. He’s feeling it. And it just fed itself. Crazy game though. I mean the first half I I I was sitting there thinking I’m not sure I’ve seen a quarterback that looks more overwhelmed this entire weekend in the NFL than JJ McCarthy. like he looked I mean it was a protective deliberate cautious game plan but you know I mean in Kevin O’Connell we trust so you have to feel great you know if I had told you the Vikings won by three before the game started you know you’d have taken it you had no idea it would look like this a dreadful first two and a half quarters and then a remarkable fourth quarter for JJ McCarthy so he’s just going to grow and grow and grow and let’s watch it unfold. It’s fun. You know, Packers dealt with this with Jordan Love. You know, he had a good start. Good start. It goes backwards. It’s not linear. It’s not in a straight line with young quarterbacks. Uh but this is a nice win. Um you know, with Caleb Williams, the criticism of him, and I’ve discussed this for two years, was he played a little bit too much hero ball, could be undisiplined, and his his accuracy was hit and miss. I I think you saw a lot of the accuracy issues, sailing balls. Uh when JJ McCarthy got into a rhythm, he was very very accurate. Uh Caleb is all over the map on accuracy. Can miss layups, can hit big plays. Um he felt like he was all over the map. And he plays with a lot of emotion after a big run. He’s got a little, you know, he’s going to show you a little personality. I’m not a huge fan of it. It is what it is. But I I I watch head coaches to watch their view and their confidence and Ben Johnson on a couple of drives. In fact, I wrote it down here. Uh Ben Johnson third quarter it was coming out Caleb had a really bad series and Ben Johnson was shaking his head and he was frustrated because he missed an open receiver then he dirted one. Um, you know, I don’t know with Caleb Williams. Uh, the offensive line for the Bears, it’s a perpetual problem. They spent a lot of money to upgrade the interior line, but again, Brian Flores, you know, he’s a handful to deal with. Um, and and the Vikings have better players, but I I don’t know. Um, I think I Caleb Williams has an incredibly high ceiling. He has a ton of horsepower. The arm, the movement is I mean, he’s got a power arm. That that completion uh on the first drive to Roma Dunay on the sideline was gas. I mean, it was heat. Um and he made a a couple big throws to um DJ Moore. I mean, he’s got a fast ball, but a lot of times he’s missing the strike zone, so it’s a real work in progress. Ben Johnson was frustrated during the game, 12 penalties, uh, false starts. I think some of that’s on Caleb Williams. Um, you know, when you read that story with Tyler Dunn where, you know, they were having problems. They had to simplify the offense last year. I trust Tyler Dunn. He’s written multiple stories on the Bills or the Packers and the Bears, and he’s been accurate. And when you have when you have 12 penalties and multiple false starts, that’s usually on the quarterback. So, and I and I think I think Ben Johnson’s, you know, I think he’s a more than capable guy, but he wants a timing and rhythm quarterback. Like, he’s got that Shanahan thing. And Kevin O’Connell, same thing. He’s going to dial up plays. He’ll let you add little little and JJ McCarthy’s got pretty good feet, but he wants you to run his play. And I just feel I felt tonight that half the time Caleb didn’t see the field and just took off. Football season’s here and if you want to go to an NFL or college football game, Game Time is the place for you. The Game Time app just gives you the advantage back to you, the fans. It’s a hack for unlocking amazing tickets and experiences in a few taps. I love it. Easy to use. 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All your favorite games from Atlantic City, practically everything you want to bet across every sport, all in the same top rated, nearly five-star app. So head over, sign up today. Join us as we get this party started with Hard Rock Bet and roll with us all football season. So, and again, he’s explosive. He’s going to make plays. He ran for that touchdown. I mean, there was some growth tonight. He he I think he only got sacked once. could have been twice, but um you know, he he scored a touchdown on his first possession. I don’t think the Bears did that all of last year. They did it tonight. They have a better coach and an offensive head coach. They’re going to be better. But I think if you’re a Bears fan, you’re left scratching your head. And is this Justin Fields where, you know, there’s moments, the size, the arm, the athleticism, the movement. There are definitely moments, but you’re kind of left. I mean, you watch Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen and you watch JJ McCarthy for three quarters and Caleb Williams, it’s a different sport. So, I, you know, I listen, I was as big a fan as Caleb Williams had. I didn’t think he was Andrew Luck or a John Elway. Um, but I thought he was really talented and on script in that first drive, you know, he was 10 for 10 on script. So, that’s something. But it it just feels like to me they couldn’t generate a consistent run game. The Vikings did. They never really had back-to-back great drives. The Vikings had three straight great drives in the fourth quarter. Um and the better personnel, the better or is the Vikings. That’s why they’re favored in this game. So, I mean, I’m just trying to think how you would feel if you’re a Viking fan and you played like that for three quarters and one, you have to be overjoyed and and you have to love what you saw out of JJ McCarthy. You know, he didn’t he didn’t play much in the preseason. So, I mean, I maybe the game plan, you know, Kevin O’Connell just went into the game plan thinking Brian Flores is going to give Caleb Williams issues. He probably thought they’re not going to run that much on our defensive front. We’re just going to let this game slowly bake and develop and we’re going to let the game come to JJ McCarthy. U that could have been the entire game plan, but we’re going to go in very cautious. Can Brian Flores create some mistakes? Um and then let’s let the game develop. Maybe that was the game plan from the beginning. It didn’t look like that based on the facial expressions of Kevin O’Connell, but maybe that was the game plan. So, I think if you’re a Vikings fan, and I’ve said this, this is a they remind me of the Kansas City Chiefs before Mahomes. I just think Minnesota’s smartly owned and well-run. They draft and develop. Um, and they’ve got, you know, Kevin Oonnell was a great hire. Flores is, in my opinion, arguably the best defensive coordinator in the league. Robert Sol’s up there, Vic Fangio. But you have to feel great if you’re a Vikings fan. You really do. I mean, you if the next game, you’re probably going to get something from JJ McCarthy that looks much more like the fourth quarter of JJ with confidence than the first quarter. Um, you know, now he’s got a full start behind him and a road start that matters. If you’re the Bear fans, um, you know, I’m just looking at some numbers here. Bears are with the Lions next week on a short week facing a Detroit team that was humiliated. That is a rough spot. Um, and listen, Jared Goff’s first start with Ben Johnson calling the plays, he had an 80 passer rating, 57% completion percentage. Caleb Williams first start, 87 passer rating, 60% completion start. They both threw for about 215 yards and and both had, you know, a couple of total touchdowns. So Jared Goff’s first game with him and Caleb Williams are very similar. They’re obviously different players, but um you know I I think the thing that I think the thing that really stuck out to me with Caleb was too many times he sat in that pocket 1001,00200 and he took off. Now again, Brian Flores is a handful and you know maybe I’d rather Caleb Williams take off than see ghosts and throw picks. So, it is I was thinking after the first half, well, he he’s he’s running too much, but that’s better than if you’re not seeing the field well and you don’t see openings. Now, he did miss a couple. There were open people, but that’s better than throwing a pick and throwing it up for grabs. But in the end, I think, you know, I think if you’re the Bears, you just got to cross your fingers and keep watching. Uh you don’t have any definitive statements. You should have won tonight. you didn’t take advantage when JJ McCarthy was sort of growing and and and lacking confidence to gaining confidence. You had about two hours of football and two and a half threequarters of football to really seize control of the game. Some of that the penalties and you couldn’t run the ball. So there were a lot of third and longs and difficult situations. At one point these quarterbacks combined were four for 20 on third down. It was it was not Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen. But um it is just one one of the reasons I love this sport. You have to watch the games and you have to watch until the end, you know, and and I I don’t want to, you know, it would be one thing if JJ McCarthy had one good drive at the end and walked off with a win. He didn’t. He had three drives. He his velocity was excellent. They were running the ball and it was like that’s a that was not just, you know, a good series or play calling. That was JJ McCarthy making multiple nice throws with a lot of velocity. And he does have good feet. You can move the pocket. He’s got a little Brock Pury that you can move the pocket with him. Uh, which is almost a standard basic trait you have to be equipped with, but he’s got that. So, 2724. Um, what a first weekend. I mean, Dallas takes the Eagles to the wire. The next day in Brazil, uh, Justin Herbert’s flawless and beats Kansas City. Then Sunday’s unbelievable 1:00 window, I got Jets and Steelers. The late game, Bills and Ravens is one for the ages. And then this thing tonight, it may not have been an aesthetic masterpiece. It turned out to be a hell of a fourth quarter. Um, man, what we got? What, 17, 18, 19, 20 more weeks of this stuff? I’m here for it. My instant reaction. [Music]

Colin Cowherd reacts to the Minnesota Vikings beating the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football. Colin gives his take on JJ McCarthy’s debut and his 4th quarter performance. Colin talks about Caleb Williams & why Bears fans should be worried after his performance.

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49 comments

  1. I’ve lived in Mn my whole life and am sick of the Queens. Don’t really think JjMacarthy is going to be that great. I put $100 on the bears.
    Gotta tip my hat to the kid.
    He did it when it mattered. He hung in there.

  3. Caleb is awful. Its either checkdowns to his rb or run around. And he had open receivers in his progression. He isnt running the offense at all. Being inconsistently great doesnt make up for the rest of it. Everyone is great at times. Mccarthy did in 3 quarters what caleb is still trying to do. He started connecting woth receivers and running the offense and he took over

  5. Correct. McCarthy is Baker with better HC/DC. Reason why the Vikings moved off Sam is because arguably, McCarthy is already at the talent Darnold is at, just 5 years younger

  14. Evidently Colin has not watch JJ closely during his time at Michigan. Having watched every game of JJ when he was at Michigan, I was fully expecting JJ to explode once he got into a comfort zone. This kid will turn out to be one of the top 2 picks in that draft class, with Jayden being the other one. 4th quarter was classic JJ, especially the running touchdown. What was really impressive was his ducking between the defender and his blocker to get into the end zone. Most would have tried to side step, and then would have been stopped by the other defender on one side, or the side line on the other. It was real cool to see him do that. Go Blue!

  15. I drafted jj in fantasy and started him although penix had a better week 1 points total. I kept jj for a reason and bc of that 14yrd rush td he not only won his game but my wk1 match up as well

  16. Caleb will be fine. This is a very competitive division and as we are seeing will be so a long time. bears are still improving . Vikings have been more stable with the coaching staff while Detroit and bears will struggle for a bit.

  20. McCarthy had the second highest QBR in college and won a Natty. So there’s that. Doesn’t guarantee he’s gonna be a dude in the NFL but for one game he checked that box. Meanwhile another Bears QB looks sub par and overwhelmed. And the guy they didn’t pick is the toast of the town in DC and offensive rookie of the year. Some things never change.

  22. We’ve reached the point in media where people are ripping essentially a rookie QB in his first game ever when he struggles for 3 quarters vs a tough defense on the road vs a divisional opponent on Monday night football lol

  26. REfs really really hurt the Bears with some of those calls. PI when the receiever simply fell…on the 3rd and long?…. BS penalty then next play..TD….

  32. If I am a Vikings fan, I would not be encouraged one bit. JJ McCarthy was terrible and that is an understatement. A few missed holding calls got the Vikings run game going in the 2nd half. The Bears kept shooting themselves in the foot with penalties. If McCarthy plays that bad they win maybe 5 more games the rest of the season.

  33. JJ hate is the most forced hate I have seen for a guy that has never acted like a diva or a “me” guy. Colin even saying JJ looked bad without mentioning the offensive line was getting dominated in that first half leading JJ to have to pass in 3rd and obvious situations and allowing a defense to pin its ears back. JJ watched his Heisman chances get torpedoed in the 2023 penn state game, where the coach decided to run the ball 19 straight times, and never once complained or showed disappointment with body language. The guys does whatever it takes to win and doesn’t care about his own personal accomplishments. The hate for him is so unnecessary

  35. I am disappointed that no news media is shitting on the refs for those 3 phantom calls that completely changed the game in the second half, and I am not a Bears fan at all.

  39. Colin should stand on his original JJ take. That prolly will be JJs best quarter this year and after the first 3 games he will go about 5-9. The Vikes are about to get Bryce Young's for 3 yrs

  40. I thought his reaction to his pick6 spoke volumes. I watched Donovan Jackson the rookie guard immediately get the energy. I’m sure Vikings fans are pretty happy about him.

  43. Caleb Williams ceiling is basically Josh Allen, will he achieve that level? maybe, maybe less that a 50% chance. but I’m not writing him off the next 2 years.

  46. It was JJ's first game, under a lot of pressure. He was going through the motions in the first half. Started letting the ball go in the 2nd half and never looked back! It's all up from here for JJ! You don't see this type of comeback from a first time starter at 22 years old!

  49. This dude always tweets his ass out one half into the game and by the end of the game it always comes to bite him in the ass and his comments get flooded with hate lmao. When will he learn to watch a full game before making assessments?

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