The Minnesota Vikings (4-5) face the Chicago Bears (6-3) on Saturday. They have faced each other before this season.

The Vikings exited the game victorious despite a rocky start for starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Though talented, McCarthy has had his ups and downs this season. That was no truer than in the game against the Bears.

Despite the slow start, Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell maintained his belief in McCarthy and spoke confidence into his quarterback. At halftime O'Connell told his young leader, “You are going to bring us back to win this game."

McCarthy has not been known for putting up herculean statistics even dating back to his days at Michigan. Nevertheless, he has been known for making the plays that win games. That's exactly what he did against the Bears.

The stat sheet does not tell you what McCarthy accomplished in the game. The starter completed 13 of 20 passing attempts for 143 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Even so, it was his two second half touchdowns that made the difference in the now even more important win.

McCarthy's head coach voiced the importance of his clutch performance in the game. He said the following:

“We don't win this game unless J.J. plays the way he did in the second half. Most importantly, he kept the belief of this football team behind him, and now, we know it's possible. You hope to not be in these circumstances very often. But this team's made of the right stuff.”

The Vikings did an effective job of limiting opposing quarterback Caleb Williams and the Bears' offensive guru head coach Ben Johnson in the game. Williams was held to 210 passing yards with just one touchdown. More noticeably, the quarterback was forced to be the team's leading rusher with 58 of Chicago's 119 rushing yards.

Vikings safety Jay Ward evened the turnover battle with a fumble recovery from Bears wide receiver DJ Moore. The stout defensive play from Minnesota carried the team to the finish line. Minnesota defensive lineman Javon Hargrave had the only two sacks of Caleb Williams on the night for the Vikings defense.

Now, Minnesota gets the opportunity to play the Bears at their home field after traveling to Chicago for the season opener. ESPN's matchup predictor gives the Vikings a 50.3% chance to win the near-even matchup on Sunday.

McCarthy and company will hope to climb the division standings with a win at 12 p.m. ET on Fox.