CHICAGO — The stage was set for young quarterback J.J. McCarthy to make the Chicago Bears pay for passing on him twice in the 2024 NFL draft. After cheering for them as a kid growing up in La Grange Park, Ill., McCarthy had a chance to beat them in front of a national television audience in primetime.

It looked like any chance of that went up in flames shortly after halftime when McCarthy threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown.

To that point, the Vikings had been an abject disaster on offense. The potential passing attack that has become synonymous with head coach Kevin O’Connell was nowhere to be found. The rebuilt running game that was touted for the past few months was rendered completely ineffective.

Not exactly a recipe for a comeback.

But the Vikings kept hanging

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