J.J. McCarthy started for the Vikings in his highly anticipated debut on Monday Night Football in Chicago against the Bears.
His first game got off to a slow start, but Minnesota stayed in the game as Caleb Williams and the new-look Bears offense under Ben Johnson cooled off after their first drive. The Michigan product faced a third-and-8 at the start of the third quarter as he tried to keep the Vikings' drive alive, or at least set them up for a field goal to trim the lead to one with plenty of game left.
Things took a disastrous turn from there as McCarthy threw across the field in an attempt to find Justin Jefferson, but Bears defensive back Nahshon Wright jumped in front for an interception and returned it 74 yards for a score. Wright saw nothing but green in front of him, however McCarthy did his all to stop him, although he had to get past a ton of Bears' blockers.
Last year's No. 10 pick appeared to run so fast that he got tripped up and did a somersault as Wright ran into the end zone. You can watch the crucial play in full below:
🚨 NAHSHON WRIGHT PICK-6 🚨
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) September 9, 2025
📺: @ESPNNFL pic.twitter.com/5geKe6lsBM
A pick-six isn't great for your first career touchdown pass, as plenty of fans rushed to social media to make the same joke:
JJ McCarthy’s first touchdown pass is to the Chicago Bears, this is what dreams are made of 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 https://t.co/mAAPqucEeD
— Shehan Jeyarajah (@ShehanJeyarajah) September 9, 2025
First NFL touchdown pass for former Michigan QB JJ McCarthy pic.twitter.com/nIHPgQBvKf
— The Buckeye Nut (@TheBuckeyeNut) September 9, 2025
J.J. McCarthy grew up in Chicago as a Bears fan.
— NFL Memes (@NFL_Memes) September 9, 2025
Tonight he was able to fulfill his childhood dream of throwing a touchdown pass to the Bears ❤️
pic.twitter.com/tav3xeezwk
At least it's only up from here, right?
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as J.J. McCarthy Did a Somersault Trying to Stop His First Pick-Six.
