Three Inexcusable Mistakes Made by the Vikings in Week 10
Despite heading home for Week 10, the Minnesota Vikings lost to the Baltimore Ravens by a score of 27-19.
The game was excruciatingly frustrating for almost its entirety because of some very costly mistakes made by Minnesota over and over again. Here is a look at three of the biggest mistakes made by the Vikings this weekend.
Justin Jefferson’s Drop and Overall Outing
This very well may have been the worst game of Justin Jefferson’s NFL career. The receiver had four receptions for 37 yards, which aren’t career lows for him, but it felt like one of the few times that he just hasn’t had any impact because of opportunities that were lost in part by his own doing.
First and foremost, Jefferson dropped one of J.J. McCarthy’s best throws of the game, which would have been a 13-yard touchdown to cut Baltimore’s lead to 27-19 or 27-20 (depending on if the Vikings opted to go for two like they ended up doing when they did get into the end zone on the ensuing drive).
Making matters worse, Jefferson also tripped and fell on a 3rd and 1 deep pass from J.J. McCarthy that ended up being picked off in the end zone. The star receiver didn’t have too many chances to help out his young quarterback, but he didn’t make the most of the opportunities he had. He deserves some blame for this loss if he wasn’t fighting through an illness or injury to stay on the field.
3rd, 4th and Short Failures
The frustrations continued to show up for the Vikings on offense, particularly in 3rd and short or 4th and short situations. One of McCarthy’s interceptions came on a 3rd and 1 at midfield, which immediately led to the Ravens taking the lead. The Vikings also had two fourth down attempts that did not convert because of incomplete passes.
With these failures through the passing game, one must ask the question: why don’t the Vikings simply commit to running the football more? The Vikings attempted just 18 carries over the course of the entire game, and five of them were results of McCarthy scrambling out of the pocket to evade pressure.
Nine of those carries went to Aaron Jones, and only four of them went to Jordan Mason. Jones totaled 47 yards (5.2 yards per carry), and Mason had 25 (6.3 yards per carry). Not only is the Vikings’ playcalling frustrating right now by not including the run, but when they did run the ball on Sunday, it worked. And they still did not commit to it on these short down situations.
By not committing to the run, the Vikings are putting a lot of pressure being put on a young quarterback, and it could have massively negative effects.
Eight False Start Penalties
A home crowd, particularly one at U.S. Bank Stadium, is supposed to provide a huge advantage for teams over a traveling opponent. The high crowd volume can lead to confusion for opposing offenses and potential penalties.
On Sunday, the opposite effect happened for the Vikings. Minnesota was penalized a whopping 13 times for 102 yards, and almost unfathomably, eight of those penalties were false starts on the home team. It’s the first time since 2009 that a home team has committed eight or more false starts in a game.
They came at the worst possible moments too. For example, the Vikings had a false start called on them during their final drive of the game, turning a 3rd and 6 into a 3rd and 11. One play later, McCarthy scrambled for a seven-yard gain before throwing an incompletion on 4th and 4 to end the game. Maybe this game ends differently if that one false start doesn’t happen.
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