The Bears have a shot to move into first place in the NFC North on Sunday, and the quarterback situation in Minnesota may have just made that path a little more complicated than it looked a day ago.
Kyler Murray was ruled out with a concussion on Friday, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, which pushes Carson Wentz into the starting job against Chicago. That should matter to the Bears, because it also opens the door - however slim - for J.J.
McCarthy if Wentz gets knocked out of the game. And with Wentz carrying a long injury history that includes a torn labrum and a dislocation in his left shoulder that ended his 2025 season last October, it’s not hard to imagine the Vikings needing a backup plan.
That’s where the danger comes in. Bears fans might look at McCarthy and see a favorable break, but his games against Chicago last season say otherwise. He was shaky for long stretches in both meetings, yet still found ways to make the Bears sweat.
His first start came in Chicago to open the 2025 season, and it took him three quarters to settle in. Once he did, the fourth quarter flipped the game.
McCarthy threw two touchdown passes and ran for another with 2:53 left, helping Minnesota escape with a 27-24 win. That outing earned him NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.
The next matchup in Minneapolis followed a similar script. McCarthy struggled through most of the afternoon, then delivered a 15-yard go-ahead touchdown to Jordan Addison with 50 seconds left.
Chicago still had life after Devin Duvernay’s 56-yard kickoff return put the Bears in Vikings territory, and Cairo Santos finished the job with a 48-yard field goal as time expired for a 19-17 Bears win. McCarthy’s line - 16-of-32 for 150 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions - looked rough, but even that version of him nearly beat Chicago again.
That’s what makes him such a wild card if Wentz can’t finish Sunday’s game. The Vikings have been trying to avoid putting McCarthy in that spot since signing Murray and Wentz over a one-week span in free agency last spring, and the joke about him throwing passes with the same velocity as Henry Rowengartner may land with Bears fans, but the bigger issue is whether Chicago’s defense can afford to get caught flat-footed again.
The Bears’ secondary didn’t exactly shut the door in Week 1, either. Bryce Young carved them up in Chicago’s season-opening win over Carolina, throwing for 361 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. A lot of the damage came in chunks, including a 51-yard touchdown to Jalen Coker in the second quarter.
So while the likeliest outcome is still Wentz playing the full game, McCarthy is the kind of backup who changes the temperature of a matchup in a hurry. If he gets on the field, he’ll have every reason to try to prove the Vikings wrong for pushing him down to third string. And the Bears already know it only takes a few snaps for him to make them pay.
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