J.J. McCarthy has historic Vikings debut that has the fanbase fired up for a potential Super Bowl

That fourth quarter ended up being historic for multiple reasons, all due to McCarthy. He was the first quarterback in NFL history to account for three touchdowns in the fourth quarter of his NFL debut and the second quarterback in the last 45 years to overcome a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter of said debut, joining Steve Young, and the only quarterback since 1950 to do so on the road. Things are much different with McCarthy, as Young played in the USFL before heading to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The other important factor was McCarthy showing that he was a leader. He told the team in the huddle, "Where would you rather be?" and they got fired up.

"At the end of the day, we're so blessed to be able to play this game. So every snap we get is a complete blessing," said McCarthy. "And that's something that I was mentioning to the guys in the huddle when we were down, like, Where else would you rather be? So I feel like, you know, we did a great job, and this team showed a lot of poise and responded very well.

"I've never actually said that before, but I feel like it was at the perfect time. Guys were just in their head a little bit. And I feel like, if you could smile [it] goes a long way. So there was a lot of smiles after I said that, and just a little bit of a perspective shift. Yeah, things weren't going our way, but we're here doing this together, and seeing the boys, they responded perfectly."

It was a major step forward for the Vikings with McCarthy at the helm, and the path toward success has only just begun, perhaps ending in a Super Bowl.

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