Analysis: Vikings turn a double-dip opportunity into a double-doink learning experience

The Vikings had a 10-6 lead and an ideal opportunity to score going into and out of halftime of Sunday’s 27-19 loss to the Ravens at U.S. Bank Stadium.

“You want to double dip right there,” said running back Aaron Jones Sr.

Instead, Kevin O’Connell and J.J. McCarthy double-doinked.

They handed Baltimore six points — three going into halftime after a 41-second three-and-out and three more off a deep-ball interception intended for Justin Jefferson on third-and-1 at midfield — to fall behind 12-10 in a game the Vikings never led again. About two minutes later, the Ravens scored a touchdown off a Myles Price fumble.

“That,” said O’Connell, coach and play-caller, “was a critical point in the game from the standpoint of an opportunity lost.”

Yep.

Now probably isn’t the time Vikings fans want to hear about how a good young quarterback playing an ugly game with two interceptions and more incompletions (22) than completions (20) isn’t all bad in the grand scheme of finally building a sustainable winner.

“Every snap right now there’s major growth and learning and teaching going on for a guy who was making his fourth start,” O’Connell said of McCarthy.

The best example: McCarthy’s throwaway incompletion on third-and-5 with 40 seconds left in the first half and three snaps after his defense stuffed Derrick Henry on third-and-2 to force a 28-yard field goal.

O’Connell had two timeouts and 1:11 on the clock. He didn’t need to call three straight passes, two of which were incompletions that stopped the clock. He chose to be aggressive with McCarthy.

“There’s definitely some parameters [for McCarthy], in that situation,” O’Connell said. “The throwaway where we really had nobody there was a situation where” McCarthy should have taken the sack.

McCarthy knows that. But sometimes, instincts overcome logic when a good young QB is put in a bad situation early on.

McCarthy was asked how long it takes for a young quarterback who knows what to do to become the guy who executes what he knows under the pressure and chaos of an NFL snap.

“I feel like the greatest learning tool for anybody, regardless of position or profession, is experience,” he said. “This is my fourth football game. This is the first time I’ve been in a situation like that where it was ‘take a sack or throw it away.’ I feel like it’s the first opportunity where I could collect that data and use it the next time.”

As for that interception coming out of halftime, well, O’Connell and McCarthy vehemently defended the decision to throw deep on third-and-1 when it was suggested — by yours truly, with zero years of NFL playing and/or play-calling experience — that a run up the middle for a first down at midfield was the better way to retake control of the game.

First, O’Connell said he had already decided to go for it on fourth down if the Vikings didn’t convert on third down. Secondly …

“I’ll take Justin Jefferson one-on-one down the field in zero coverage,” O’Connell said. “Especially where we were on the field and knowing we can then go get that yard on fourth down.”

First, no one expected Jefferson to fall when his feet got tangled up with cornerback Marlon Humphrey after the ball had already left McCarthy’s hand. Second …

“We’re going to be aggressive,” O’Connell said. “We’re going to try to get Justin Jefferson and J.J. chances because part of the growth and development is we got to let them play a little bit as well. We’re trying to figure out that balance.”

The bad news: McCarthy’s journey will have more hiccups. The good news: He doesn’t seem to be a guy who will let short-term failure — like eight misfires to Jefferson — defeat the possibility of their long-term success as the faces of this franchise.

“One-on-one, and I have the greatest receiver in the world,” McCarthy said. “I didn’t see him fall. It’s just one of those things, but 10 times out of 10 I’m going to give him the shot.”

So, yeah, Vikings Nation, the double-doink stings. But it’s not a total loss if McCarthy gains experience the hard way, which is typically the way young NFL quarterbacks, even the good ones, learn.