J.J. McCarthy got off to a slow start in his NFL debut on Monday night but he had the last laugh as the former Michigan QB had a monster fourth quarter in which he threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score to lead the Vikings to a come-from-behind 27-24 victory over Caleb Williams and the Bears in Chicago.

McCarthy, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, had a lot of people crushing him on social media during the first half, in which he struggled to find his way and looked a little overwhelmed against a Bears defense that was all over him.

He then started the third quarter by throwing a pick-six that gave the Bears a 17-6 lead and the haters had even more of a field day with the QB.

One of those was Fox Sports' Colin Cowherd, who tweeted this during the game: "They are protecting J.J. McCarthy. Nothing more. He’s a mile away and the Vikings staff knows it."

McCarthy then made that hot take look really silly as he became the first QB in NFL history to account for three touchdowns in the fourth quarter of his NFL debut.

After the game it looked like Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell and the rest of the team didn't think McCarthy was "a mile away" at all. Look at this locker room scene:

Cowherd later walked back his tweet, saying McCarthy should win an award for his turnaround in the game: "Can you win Comeback Player of the Week? From first quarter until fourth quarter I nominate J.J. McCarthy."

The hot takes were flying about both QBs during last night's game and many people were probably trying to find the delete button after McCarthy's explosive play down the stretch.

Cowherd has grown used to seeing his takes blow up in his face, and that happened again to him Monday night.

Which Vikings fans had to love.

More NFL on Sports Illustrated


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Colin Cowherd’s Mid-Game Hot Take on J.J. McCarthy Ended Up Looking Really Bad.

Test hyperlink for boilerplate