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September 9, 2025 17 mins

Colin reacts to the Vikings 27-24 comeback win over the Bears on Monday Night Football.

He begins with J.J. McCarthy’s rough start and strong finish and compares his highly emotional style to Baker Mayfield (5:00). He highlights Caleb Williams' strong start when the offense was scripted but devolved into inconsistency and sailed passes late (9:30). 

He argues that the Vikings are the better franchise with better personnel and coaching and look like the Chiefs pre-Mahomes and can become dominant if they get the quarterback right (14:45). 

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Episode Transcript

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(01:49):
All Right, time to look at this weekend's tastiest matchup
in this week's Sunday Night food Ball, brought to you
by Uber Eats. All Right, that took a turn. So
I said all week, this was the one pick that
didn't make the blazing five. I like the Vikings. I
did not think it would look like this. They win
twenty seven to twenty four. What I had an executive

(02:13):
in the league text me tonight in Kevin O'Connell. We trust.
He is so respected around the league. And you just
watch that running game for the Vikings develop in the
second half, and you watch JJ McCarthy gain confidence. He
looked as bad as any quarterback I saw this weekend
in the first two and a half quarters. And tell

(02:36):
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 protecting him in

(02:58):
the first half. The first start, Road game, didn't take
a lot of snaps in the preseason, 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

(03:19):
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 it 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 the staff, with confidence in him,
in the fourth quarter six of eight, one hundred and

(03:40):
forty nine point five passer rating, one hundred and one 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 joked on Twitter
he deserved comeback Player of the Week. From first quarter
to fourth. It was just an incredible turnaround. I've never

(04:03):
been a huge JJ McCarthy a 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 moves. But what you saw in the
second half 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,

(04:25):
and Brian Flores and Kevin O'Connell. I think I read
about two months ago in the Athletic An article and
the best coaching staff in the league head coach to coordinators,
and Minnesota was number one, and I think Robert sal
and Kyle Shanahan were number two. So I thought the game,
I had said this on Fox today. I thought the
game would come down between the battle between Caleb Williams

(04:48):
and Brian Flores. So Caleb was ten for ten when
it was on script, right Ben Johnson scripted plays. He
was ten for ten, and then what happened when they
went off script after the ten for ten start, kayleb
Williams was ten of twenty four one hundred and five
yards and the Bears were riddled with penalties. They had
a dozen, way too many. So let's just start with

(05:11):
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 bow Nicks.
Then you look up and you're like, ooh, I think
we found we made the playoffs. I think we found
our franchise quarterback. I said it with Justin Fields. My god,
the Jets lost, you have to feel great, have we

(05:32):
found our guy? Jets 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 out
played for three quarters, you were trailing. I mean the
game kind of felt like if you know, if Chicago
when they were leading, could just string some first downs
together and pin the Vikings and JJ McCarthy deep middle

(05:56):
third quarter, you're like, I'm not so sure if this
game's not over. But again, of the two teams, one
of the Minnesotas really started churning out a running game
and that got better for the field position. That gave
JJ McCarthy better second and third down options. They open
up the playbook. Then you get some momentum you're winning

(06:17):
the line of scrimmage. So that run game really helped
kind of set the tone for Minnesota. They could get
a little more aggressive with JJ. Then he hits a
couple of passes. He's feeling it, and it just fed itself.
A crazy game though. I mean the first half, I
was sitting there thinking, I'm not sure I've seen a
quarterback that looks more overwhelmed this entire weekend in the

(06:40):
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 told you the
Vikings won by three before the game started, you know
you'd have taken it. You had no idea it would

(07:01):
look like this. The 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, they had
a good start, good start, it goes backwards. It's not linear,
it's not in a straight line with young quarterbacks, but

(07:21):
this is a nice win, 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 undisciplined, and his accuracy was hit and miss.
I think you saw a lot of the accuracy issues

(07:41):
sailing balls. When JJ McCarthy got into a rhythm, he
was very, very accurate. Caleb is all over the map
on accuracy, can miss layups, can hit big plays. He
felt like he was all over the map, and he
plays with a lot of emotion and after a big run,
he's got a little you know, he's going to show

(08:03):
you a little personality. I'm not a huge fan of it.
It is what it is, but I watch head coaches
to watch their view and their confidence in Ben Johnson
on a couple of drives. In fact, I wrote it
down here Ben Johnson third quarter. It was coming out.
Caleb had a really bad series and Ben Johnson was

(08:26):
shaking his head and he was frustrated because he missed
an open receiver than he dirted one. You know, I
don't know with Caleb Williams. The offensive line for the Bears,
it's a perpetual problem. They spend a lot of money
to upgrade the interior line, but again Brian Flores. You know,
he's a handful to deal with, and the Vikings have

(08:48):
better players, But I don't know. I think 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 on the first drive to
Roma Dunza and the sideline was gas. I mean it

(09:11):
was heat. And he made a couple of big throws
to Dj Moore. I mean he's got a fastball, 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. Twelve penalties, false starts. I think some

(09:32):
of that's on Caleb Williams. 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 twelve penalties and
multiple false starts, that's usually on the quarterback. So and

(09:56):
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

(10:18):
that half the time Caleb didn't see the field and
just took off. So and again, he's explosive, He's going
to make plays. He ran for that touchdown. I mean
there were some growth tonight. He I think he only
got sacked once, could have been twice, but you know,
he scored a touchdown on his first possession that. I
don't think the Bears did that all of last year.

(10:40):
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,

(11:01):
you watch Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen and you watch
JJ McCarthy for three quarters 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, but I thought
he was really talented and on script and that first drive,

(11:22):
you know, it was ten for ten on script. So
that's something. But 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. And
the better personnel, the better org is the Vikings. That's

(11:44):
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 in one. You have to be overjoyed and you
have to love what you saw in JJ McCarthy. You know,
he didn't play much in the preseason. I mean, maybe
the game plan, you know, Kevin O'Connell just went into

(12:05):
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 gonna
let this game slowly bake and develop, and we're gonna
let the game come to JJ McCarthy. That could have
been the entire game plan, but we're going to go
in very cautious. Can Brian Flores create some mistakes and

(12:28):
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, and they've got you know, Kevin O'Connell

(12:52):
was a great hire Flores is in my opinion, arguably
the best defensive coordinator in the league. Robert slaz up there,
Vic Fangio, you have to feel great if you're a
Vikings fan, you really do. I mean, if the next
game you're probably gonna get something from JJ McCarthy that
looks much more like the fourth quarter of JJ with
confidence than the first quarter. You know, now he's got

(13:15):
a full start behind him and a roadstart that matters
if you're the Bear fans. You know, I'm just looking
at some numbers here. Bears are at the Lions next
week on a short week, facing a Detroit team that
was humiliated. That is a rough spot. And listen Jared
Goff's first start with Ben Johnson calling the plays. He

(13:36):
had an eighty passer rating, fifty seven percent completion percentage.
Kayleb Williams first start eighty seven passer rating, sixty percent
completion start. They both threw for about two hundred and
fifteen yards and both had, you know, a couple of
total touchdowns. So Jared Goffs first game with him and
Kayleb Williams are very similar. They're obviously different players. But

(14:00):
you know, 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 one thousand
and one, one thousand and two, one thousand and he
took off. Now again, Brian Floores is a handful, and
you know, maybe I'd rather Caleb Williams take off than

(14:22):
see ghosts and throw picks. So it was thinking after
the first half, well, he's running too much, but that's
better than if you're not seeing the field well and
you don't see openings. 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,

(14:42):
you just got to cross your fingers and keep watching.
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 lacking confidence to gaining confidence. You had about
two hours of football and two and a half three
quarters of football to really seize control of the game.
Some of that the penalties, and you couldn't run the ball,

(15:05):
so there were a lot of third and longs and
difficult situations. At one point, these quarterbacks combined were four
for twenty on third down. Was it was not Lamar Jackson,
Josh Allen, But it is just 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 I don't want to, you know, it'd be one

(15:27):
thing if JJ McCarthy had one good drive at the
end and walked off with a win. He didn't. He
had three drives. 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

(15:48):
lot of velocity. And he does have good feet. You
can move the pocket. He's got a little rock pretty
that you can move the pocket with him, which is
almost a standard basic trait you have to be equipped with.
But he's got so twenty seven to twenty four, what
a first weekend. I mean, Dallas takes the Eagles to

(16:08):
the wire. The next day in Brazil, justin Herbert's flawless
and beats Kansas City. Then Sunday's unbelievable one o'clock window,
I got Jets and Steelers, the late game Bills and
Ravens is won 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. Man. Well,

(16:31):
you got about seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty more weeks of
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Colin Cowherd

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