Analysis: Vikings’ home opener vs. Falcons generates more concern than celebration

The NFL schedule-makers had ordained the Vikings would open U.S. Bank Stadium’s 10th season on the league’s biggest stage, on a Sunday night against the Atlanta Falcons. In the weeks before Sunday night’s home opener, it seemed everything had aligned to create a grand spectacle for a team that loves to make its home games feel cinematic.

Jared Allen’s long-awaited Hall of Fame induction meant the Vikings could honor the charismatic pass rusher in prime time, as spotlights followed Allen wearing his gold jacket and riding a motorcycle onto the field for a halftime ceremony.

The Vikings’ Aug. 27 trade for Adam Thielen meant they could send the wide receiver out of the tunnel to a roaring ovation, as public address announcer Alan Roach bellowed that the Detroit Lakes native was “returning home.”

And the story arc of J.J. McCarthy — conductor of the fourth-quarter comeback in his native Chicago on Monday, first-time father on Thursday — made it seem almost predestined the 22-year-old quarterback would cap his unforgettable week with a scintillating performance.

The Falcons, still smarting from their season-opening loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a week earlier, had no interest in playing a supporting role in the Vikings’ home opener. They planned to sedate the U.S. Bank Stadium crowd with Bijan Robinson, harangue McCarthy with first-round picks Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr., and strut out of the building they had left as patsies just nine months earlier.

What seemed fated to be a celebration of the Vikings’ past, present and future instead became a sobering splash of cold water for a team with mistakes to correct and maladies to treat.

The Vikings lost 22-6 to the Falcons on Sunday night in their most lopsided defeat in a home opener since 2014. Back then, they were a team with a first-year head coach, playing their first game in a college stadium while their new home was under construction, and reeling from the news their star running back had been indicted two days earlier on child injury charges. They lost 30-7 to the eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots and went 6-8 after that.

On a first-and-goal play from the Falcons 2 in the second quarter, coach Kevin O’Connell sent in a play-action pass the Vikings had been practicing throughout the week, which called for McCarthy to fake a pitch to Jordan Mason and keep the ball for a throw to Justin Jefferson. But as the wide receiver gained a step on Dee Alford, McCarthy lost the ball out of his left hand and had to scramble right before throwing incomplete under pressure.

“There’s certainly some plays, some throws, some things that I’m sure he would love to get another shot at that,” O’Connell said of McCarthy, who finished 11-for-21 for 158 yards and ran five times for 25 yards. “When we did move it, I thought he made some throws, and I thought he showed his athleticism. Just as a group, we did not execute to our standard. And it kind of moved from guy to guy at times, either mental lapses or physical lapses. But either way, the negatives start to meld and you’re just not doing enough to give yourself a chance to actually win football games.”

The Vikings, who ran just 49 plays last Monday night in Chicago, had only 46 against the Falcons, as turnovers, penalties (eight for 50 yards) and pressure put their offense in an untenable situation.

According to NFL Next Gen Stats, the Falcons pressured McCarthy on 53.5% of his dropbacks, their highest rate in a game since Week 15 of the 2018 season. Six different pass rushers pressured McCarthy at least three times, and Atlanta’s six sacks were the fourth most the Vikings have surrendered in O’Connell’s four seasons.

“We got to get in and out of the huddle fast,” McCarthy said. “We got to get the right calls protectionwise. And I got to get the ball out as quickly as possible for the guys that can go make plays. There’s a lot of opportunities where we left it on the table. I feel like it’s an all-11 thing. And, you know, it starts with me first.”

“Even if a guy had a clean sheet for the whole night but had a catastrophic error, specifically around a young quarterback, that’s where we’ve got to elevate that bar,” O’Connell said. “That’s why we put together the group we hope to put around him.”

The Vikings’ hope was to surround McCarthy with enough veterans that they could stay in playoff contention while the quarterback gained proficiency. They’ve yet to play with their preferred offensive line, however, and they could still be waiting to do so, after center Ryan Kelly left with the fourth documented concussion of his NFL career and Justin Skule, starting at left tackle while Christian Darrisaw returns from ACL surgery, also left with a concussion.

It left the Vikings playing with Rouse, their third-string left tackle, next to rookie Donovan Jackson, while backup center Michael Jurgens got his first NFL action. Darrisaw’s return doesn’t seem far away, but the left tackle said Friday there’s “still room for improvement” in his surgically repaired left knee. The Vikings could turn to Blake Brandel if Darrisaw isn’t ready for the Cincinnati Bengals game and Skule remains in the concussion protocol, but a Kelly absence could complicate things as McCarthy works with Jurgens.

“We’re not expecting J.J. to be perfect. We’re not expecting anyone to be perfect,” said Jefferson, who caught three of his six targets for 81 yards. “But we all expect everyone to do their jobs when it’s time to. Even myself. We just got to go back to work tomorrow and understand it’s a short turnaround and get back to our football. Not playing other people’s football.”

The sentiment from Thielen’s return and Allen’s Hall of Fame induction, the excitement still lingering in the air after last Monday’s comeback win in Chicago and the hope stirred up by McCarthy’s debut created a mixture that felt nearly combustible by Sunday evening, when the lights went out at U.S. Bank Stadium and the Vikings’ showstopping pregame production concluded with roaring receptions for Thielen, McCarthy and Jefferson.

The Vikings affected Michael Penix Jr. with pressure and held firm in the red zone, to the point where they had a chance to get the lead back after Jonathan Greenard’s sack and Josh Metellus’ pass deflection to end the third quarter. But Harrison’s strip sack ended the Vikings’ best opportunity.

By then, the cheers had turned to boos. Those boos turned to beat-the-traffic resignation by the middle of the fourth quarter, as the Vikings ended their first loss in relative quiet.

Their quarterback stopped at teammates’ lockers after the game with words of encouragement, saying they would fix the issues in time for the Bengals game Sunday.

“We come right back with an opportunity next week; there’s no point to keep sulking and talking about it,” Greenard said. “He knows what’s up. He knows what he got to do. That’s not my job to be the quarterback. I play defense. So, I can never just be like, ‘Hey, do [this].’ I mean, I can rush the passer, get off a block, make a tackle, I gotta do my job before I look over there. He knows.”

It was McCarthy’s first loss in September since before he started high school. It’s unlikely to be his last, in a league that rarely lets story lines remain unsullied and mistakes go unpunished.