Halftime message from O'Connell to McCarthy sparks wild Vikings comeback

It didn't happen immediately. In fact, things got worse for McCarthy before they got better. But oh boy, did they eventually get better.

In the third quarter, the situation went from concerning slow start to all-out disaster. On the Vikings' first possession, McCarthy threw a pick-six to Bears cornerback Nahshon Wright that sent the Chicago faithful into elated celebration. Minnesota had the ball two more times in the quarter and went three-and-out two more times. The offense gained five total yards on nine plays in that quarter.

But the score remained 17-6 when Cairo Santos missed a field goal to start the fourth. And that's when McCarthy came to life. He led three straight touchdown drives, throwing for two scores and running for a third, to turn an 11-point deficit into a 10-point lead. The third touchdown set off an incredible celebration on the visiting sideline. And when the dust settled, the Vikings had escaped with a dramatic, historic, storybook 27-24 comeback victory in McCarthy's debut.

So much of the credit goes to McCarthy, who showed remarkable poise and resilience in leading his team back from the dead the way that he did in his first real NFL game. But that message from his head coach at halftime — that this was going to happen — sure didn't hurt.

"It meant everything," McCarthy said. "That guy is one of the best, if not the best head coach, in my opinion, in the National Football League. So any kind of compliment or belief like that, it means the world. That just gave me all the confidence to go out there and just execute the ball plays and have a fast arm and make quick, decisive decisions. And, you know, it worked out."

Knowing how much his coaches and his teammates believe in him, and trusting the work that he's put in to get to this point, McCarthy kept pushing forward on a night where almost nothing had gone to plan through three quarters. At one point — he thinks it was in the third quarter — he went into the huddle and tried to provide some confidence and some perspective to his teammates.

"We're so blessed to be able to play this game," he said postgame. "Every snap we get is a complete blessing. That's something I was mentioning to the guys in the huddle when we were down, like 'Where else would you rather be?' I feel like we did a great job, and this team showed a lot of poise and responded very well."

More from Vikings On SI