J.J. McCarthy throws for 2 TDs and runs for a score in his return as Vikings beat Lions 27-24

DETROIT (AP) — J.J. McCarthy was hailed by teammates in a jubilant locker room after leading the Minnesota Vikings to a much-needed, 27-24 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

“It was awesome,” McCarthy said, choking up. “When you’re hurt, being on IR last year, and being out for five weeks, it absolutely kills me not being out there with those guys because I love every single one of them.

“I know they got my back — and I’ve got theirs — the rest of the way.”

The Vikings (4-4) suddenly have some more hope for this season after losing two straight and three of four, bouncing back behind their second-year quarterback after a high-ankle sprain that stunted his season. McCarthy didn't play as a rookie because of a knee injury.

McCarthy threw two touchdown passes, ran for a score and sealed the victory by throwing a 16-yard pass to Jalen Nailor on third-and-5 from the Minnesota 28, a play that allowed the Vikings to run out the clock.

“J.J. made one of the best throws of the day when we absolutely needed it,” coach Kevin O’Connell said.

McCarthy, who led Michigan to the 2023 national championship, was 14 of 25 for 143 yards. He threw both of his scoring passes in the first quarter, connecting with Justin Jefferson from 10 yards out and T.J. Hockenson from 7 yards. He was picked off on a ball that was ripped away from Nailor by second-year cornerback Terrion Arnold, who made his first career interception.

McCarthy ran for a 9-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter, giving the Vikings a 24-14 lead, after David Montgomery fumbled.

“He controls the huddle like a vet and he makes plays when he needs to,” Hockenson said. “It's fun to play with (number) 9.”

The Lions went 3 for 3 on fourth down, converting the third time with Jared Goff's 17-yard pass to Sam LaPorta early in the fourth quarter. They lined up to go for it on fourth-and-5 on the same drive and got a first down on a neutral-zone infraction by Jonathan Greenard.

Detroit ended up settling for a field-goal attempt, and it got blocked by Levi Drake Rodriguez. Isaiah Rodgers returned it 33 yards to set up Will Reichard's 20-yard field goal. That proved to be a critical score because Goff threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Jameson Williams on the ensuing possession.

Lions coach Dan Campbell opted to kick off and use his timeouts, hoping to get the ball back, but McCarthy's clutch throw to Nailor ended those hopes.

“We did everything we needed to do to lose that game,” Campbell said. “We made every critical error at the right time to lose.”

Goff was 25 of 37 for 284 yards with two touchdowns. LaPorta had 97 yards receiving and and a score, and St. Brown had 97 yards on nine catches. Jahmyr Gibbs was held to 25 yards rushing on nine carries and 3 yards on three receptions.

Detroit had a season-high 10 penalties and allowed a season-high five sacks, looking rusty following a bye week.

“When you play poorly in all three phases of the game, that’s on the head coach,” Campbell said. “I didn’t have this team ready to play out of the bye.”

Vikings: RB Aaron Jones suffered a shoulder injury after gaining 78 yards on nine carries and 20 yards on two catches. FB C.J. Ham (hand) and CB Jeff Okudah (concussion) were inactive and OLB Andrew Van Ginkel (neck) returned from injury.

Lions: G Christian Mahogany was carted off with a knee injury midway through the fourth quarter, and Campbell hopes he can return in late December. G Tate Ratledge (shoulder) left the game and returned with an injury and CB Kerby Joseph (knee) was inactive.

Vikings: Host Baltimore next Sunday.

Lions: At Washington next Sunday.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) waves while leaving the field after an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) scores a touchdown ahead of Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch (32) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold (6), middle, celebrates with teammates after intercepting a pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16) passes during the first half of an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) is hit by Detroit Lions linebacker Jack Campbell (46) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, in Detroit. Campbell was flagged for roughing passer. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson (18) catches a touchdown pass ahead of Detroit Lions cornerback Amik Robertson (21) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) passes during the first half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

BEIJING (AP) — In China, the names of things are often either ornately poetic or jarringly direct. A new, wildly popular app among young Chinese people is definitively the latter.

It's called, simply, “Are You Dead?"

In a vast country whose young people are increasingly on the move, the new, one-button app — which has taken the country by digital storm this month — is essentially exactly what it says it is. People who live alone in far-off cities and may be at risk — or just perceived as such by friends or relatives — can push an outsized green circle on their phone screens and send proof of life over the network to a friend or loved one. The cost: 8 yuan (about $1.10).

It's simple and straightforward — essentially a 21st-century Chinese digital version of those American pendants with an alert button on them for senior citizens that gave birth to the famed TV commercial: “I've fallen, and I can't get up!”

Developed by three young people in their 20s, “Are You Dead?” became the most downloaded paid app on the Apple App Store in China last week, according to local media reports. It is also becoming a top download in places as diverse as Singapore and the Netherlands, Britain and India and the United States — in line with the developers' attitude that loneliness and safety aren't just Chinese issues.

“Every country has young people who move to big cities to chase their dreams,” Ian Lü, 29, one of the app's developers, said Thursday.

Lü, who worked and lived alone in the southern city of Shenzhen for five years, experienced such loneliness himself. He said the need for a frictionless check-in is especially strong among introverts. “It's unrealistic,” he said, “to message people every day just to tell them you're still alive.”

Against the backdrop of modern and increasingly frenetic Chinese life, the market for the app is understandable.

Traditionally, Chinese families have tended to live together or at least in close proximity across generations — something embedded deep in the nation's culture until recent years. That has changed in the last few decades with urbanization and rapid economic growth that have sent many Chinese to join what is effectively a diaspora within their own nation — and taken hundreds of millions far from parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles.

Today, the country has more than 100 million households with only one person, according to an annual report from the National Bureau of Statistics of China in 2024.

Consider Chen Xingyu, 32, who has lived on her own for years in Kunming, the capital of southern China’s Yunnan province. “It is new and funny. The name ’Are You Dead?' is very interesting,” Chen said.

Chen, a “lying flat” practitioner who has rejected the grueling, fast-paced career of many in her age group, would try the app but worries about data security. “Assuming many who want to try are women users, if information of such detail about users gets leaked, that’d be terrible,” she said.

Yuan Sangsang, a Shanghai designer, has been living on her own for a decade and describes herself as a “single cow and horse.” She's not hoping the app will save her life — only help her relatives in the event that she does, in fact, expire alone.

"I just don’t want to die with no dignity, like the body gets rotten and smelly before it is found," said Yuan, 38. “That would be unfair for the ones who have to deal with it.”

While such an app might at first seem best suited to elderly people — regardless of their smartphone literacy — all reports indicate that “Are You Dead?” is being snapped up by younger people as the wry equivalent of a social media check-in.

“Some netizens say that the 'Are you dead?' greeting feels like a carefree joke between close friends — both heartfelt and gives a sense of unguarded ease,” the business website Yicai, the Chinese Business Network, said in a commentary. ""It likely explains why so many young people unanimously like this app."

The commentary, by writer He Tao, went further in analyzing the cultural landscape. He wrote that the app's immediate success “serves as a darkly humorous social metaphor, reminding us to pay attention to the living conditions and inner world of contemporary young people. Those who downloaded it clearly need more than just a functional security measure; they crave a signal of being seen and understood.”

Death is a taboo subject in Chinese culture, and the word itself is shunned to the point where many buildings in China have no fourth floor because the word for “four” and the word for “death” sound the same — “si.” Lü acknowledged that the app's name sparked public pressure.

“Death is an issue every one of us has to face,” he said. “Only when you truly understand death do you start thinking about how long you can exist in this world, and how you want to realize the value of your life.”

A few days ago, though, the developers said on their official account on China’s Weibo social platform that they’d pivot to a new name. Their choice: the more cryptic “Demumu,” which they said they hoped could "serve more solo dwellers globally.”

Then, a twist: Late Wednesday, the app team posted on its Weibo account that workshopping the name Demumu didn’t turn out “as well as expected.” The app team is offering a reward for whoever offers a new name that will be picked this weekend. Lü said more than 10,000 people have weighed in.

The reward for the new moniker: $96 — or, in China, 666 yuan.

Fu Ting reported from Washington. AP researcher Shihuan Chen in Beijing contributed.

The app Are You Dead? is seen on a smartphone in Beijing, China, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

A woman looks at her smartphone in a cafe in Beijing, China, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

A woman looks at her smartphone outside a restaurant in Beijing, China, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

A man looks down near his smartphone in Beijing, China, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

A man reacts while holding his smartphone in Beijing, China, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)