One number stands out above the rest after the Vikings’ loss to the Ravens on Sunday: Eight.That’s how many false starts Minnesota committed on a day where self-inflicted wounds were too much to overcome in a winnable game.
According to ESPN’s Ben Solak, it’s the first time an NFL team has committed eight false starts in a home game since 2009, when J.J. McCarthy was six years old.
Vikings right tackle Brian O’Neill, who had never been called for more than two penalties in a game before this one, had three of the false starts. Blake Brandel, Ben Yurosek, Christian Darrisaw, Justin Jefferson, and J.J. McCarthy were the five other offenders.”Whatever was going on with the cadence or whatever it may be, just not acceptable in any way,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “We’ve gotta get it fixed, and we will.”
The Vikings found ways to move the ball in Sunday’s game. They ran for 120 yards as a team. Accuracy was an issue for McCarthy, but a high volume of attempts helped him throw for a career-high 248 yards. On the day, thier offense averaged six yards per play, which is a good number. Usually, that leads to points and success. The issues were the sheer number of penalties, three turnovers – two McCarthy interceptions and a special teams fumble – and three turnovers on downs.
“It’s all for naught if you’re going to be giving back so many of those yards in different capacities,” O’connell said of the Vikings’ successful yards per play mark.## Vikings Penalties: A Post-Game Mystery
Asked about it after the game, no one really seemed to have a clear answer.
“We’ve gotta find a way to, first and foremost, correct whatever the issue was,” O’Connell said. “Normally, we can do that in-game if there’s an issue, but there just seemed to be a flinch hear and there way, way, way too much. So if there was any uncertainty of what we were doing, that obviously is something we’ve gotta get corrected, no matter who’s in the game.”
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