For the first three quarters of his first NFL start on Monday night, Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy looked as discombobulated as someone in his position understandably might. Things came to a particularly ugly head when McCarthy threw a pick-six in the third quarter to give the Chicago Bears a 17-6 lead that truly felt insurmountable (Next Gen Stats certainly thought so too).
But that big mistake seemed to activate something for McCarthy. Maybe it simply squashed any lingering in-game nerves he had, but it's also clear his teammates have a lot of belief in him, and he has shown early signs of being a calm quarterback who can rally from adversity. The quarterback is often the barometer for his teammates when adversity hits.
The roller coaster it was guarantees Vikings fans will never forget McCarthy's first start. And for the first time in a long time, not to jinx it, at times, it seemed to be so in the past, and didn't come to fruition as hoped, it appears the Vikings have a young franchise quarterback in place.
During the fourth quarter of the Vikings' comeback win, McCarthy had two touchdown passes to give his team the lead, and he added another score with his legs to make it a two-score game. He became the first player since Cam Newton in 2011 to throw for two touchdowns and run for one in his NFL debut.
Alternate angle of J.J. McCarthy's rushing touchdown is something every Minnesota Vikings fan needs to see
The TV broadcast angle of McCarthy's decisive touchdown run easily highlighted a strong block from tight end T.J. Hockenson to get the Vikings' signal caller to the end zone. The team posted a cool alternate angle of the play, from the back of the end zone on the opposite side.
But another alternate angle of McCarthy's touchdown run from a fan in the stands high above the play on the same side of the end zone was also posted online after the game.
After a rough start, McCarthy's debut became something that will forever stick in Vikings lore.
The most memorable individual play stands to be the touchdown run that brought the comeback to its full fruition and provided the insurmountable margin, with multiple video angles to further bolster the postgame hype for fans.