Souhan: Avoidable mistakes litter the Vikings’ loss to the Ravens

After winning in Detroit, the Vikings had six days to prepare for an important game against the Baltimore Ravens.

Maybe they should have practiced.

By the time you finish this column, the Vikings will have committed five more penalties.

There is no shame in losing to the Baltimore Ravens when Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry are healthy. Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium, the Ravens defeated the Vikings 27-19 to leave the home team firmly in last place in the NFC North.

There is a smidgen of shame in committing eight false start penalties while playing at home among 13 total penalties for 102 yards … and converting just three of 14 third-down opportunities … and losing the turnover battle 3-0.

According to ESPN research, the eight false starts tied for the second-most by a home team since 2000. Vikings running back Aaron Jones Sr. said that the Ravens were simulating the Vikings play-calls to confuse the offensive line, but that sort of thing happens every week in the NFL. That’s not an excuse for a mostly veteran offensive line flinching like unwitting subjects of a Taser experiment.

“We were moving forwards, then moving backwards, then moving forward,” Jones said of an offense that was productive when flags weren’t flying. “I think some of that is we’ve just got to be more disciplined as a team.”

Promising returner Myles Price fumbled two kickoffs, losing one that Baltimore turned into its first touchdown of the game.

Star receiver Justin Jefferson, going deep one-on-one against the Ravens’ Marlon Humphrey, stumbled over Humphrey’s legs, enabling the cornerback to make an easy interception. In fact, Jefferson repeatedly got tangled with defenders. Maybe that massive necklace he wears during games is slowing him down. Might we recommend something less fashionable that weighs less than a boat anchor?

Rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy made mistakes, but that’s to be expected for a kid making his fourth NFL start against a surging defense. What’s not to be expected is to hear the phrase “False start, Number 75″ on your TV more often than Peyton Manning trying to sell you something.

“The penalty situation, which we’ve got to get fixed immediately, specifically the pre-snaps, whatever was going on with the cadence, whatever it may be, that’s just not acceptable in any way,” O’Connell said. “We’ve got to get it fixed. And we will. But the penalty situation and the turnover situation being what it was … you know, when you average 6 yards a play on offense, it’s all for naught if you’re going to be giving back so many of those yards."

O’Connell is correct, but not blameless. He calls the plays. The Vikings ran 60 of them on Sunday. J.J. McCarthy threw 42 passes and ran five times.

The Ravens insisted on running the ball. Henry had nine carries for 33 yards in the first half, for a mere 3.7 yards per carry. The Ravens gave him 11 more carries in the second half, and while he finished with “just” 75 yards on 20 carries, you could see the 6-3, 252-pound veteran wearing down the Vikings defense late in the game.

The Ravens ran 36 times for 152 yards — and they’re the team with the two-time MVP at quarterback.

If you looked at this as another learning experience for McCarthy, then it was a day well spent.

If you looked at this as a game that had to be won to keep the Vikings in realistic contention, it was a disaster.

The Vikings are two games behind the Bears, who currently occupy the last NFC playoff spot. The Vikings play host to Chicago next Sunday.