As J.J. McCarthy and Justin Jefferson struggled to connect, Jalen Nailor gets his ‘big one’

Jalen Nailor broke two tackles and nearly stiff-armed his way out of a third on his 62-yard reception in the opening minutes Sunday, his eyes toward the end zone.

It was third-and-4, only the Vikings’ sixth snap on offense, when quarterback J.J. McCarthy found Nailor outpacing Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey on the left side of the field.

Nailor moved around Humphrey with ease as the cornerback fell to the ground. He threw cornerback Chidobe Awuzie off into the Vikings sideline with little effort. Then he stiff-armed safety Alohi Gilman long enough to pick up about another eight yards before he was brought down at the 4-yard line.

“I was trying to score,” Nailor laughed postgame about the stiff-arms. “I didn’t, but we still put it in at the end of the drive, so I’m excited with that.”

Nailor, whose nickname “Speedy” showed on that chunk play, stepped up as McCarthy’s connections with his top receiving targets — namely Justin Jefferson — were tested or shut down completely in the Vikings’ 27-19 loss to the Ravens on Sunday.

Jefferson caught only four of 12 targets for 37 yards and was the intended receiver on both of McCarthy’s deep-pass interceptions. Jordan Addison caught three of 11 targets, and running back Aaron Jones Sr. was 3-for-6. Tight end T.J. Hockenson finished with two receptions on two targets.

“The ball didn’t really find my hand today,” Jefferson said. “That’s a part of football, and that’s a part of our life. ... We gotta go back to it and go back to work and practice. Fix the things we need to fix so on Sundays, it’s a cake walk.”

Jefferson has caught 50% of his targets from McCarthy for 209 yards through four games.

Nailor met the moment when the Vikings needed him, and it’s the type of performance multiple teammates said postgame he had coming: Five catches on six targets for 124 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown reception in the back corner of the end zone that gave the Vikings one last spark of hope late in the fourth quarter.

“I’ve said it since Week 1: Speedy was gonna show up one of these days,” McCarthy said. “Showed up last week on the third-and-5. Had a heck of a game today. He’s somebody who always just sticks to his process, does all the little things right, does the dirty work and doesn’t complain at all.”

The third-and-5 McCarthy referenced was the game-sealing catch in the 27-24 victory at Detroit, one that was praised throughout the week as the Vikings planned to replicate the success against their division rival vs. a Lamar Jackson-led Ravens team that rarely loses to NFC teams.

Nailor built on his performance, but the offense stuttered overall Sunday. The Vikings came out of the gate hot before tripping over themselves through the middle of the game only to collect themselves too late to mount a full comeback.

Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell kept his offense on the field for fourth down, one of five times he did so in the game.

McCarthy was flushed from the pocket quickly by Humphrey and safety Kyle Hamilton on the blitz but kept his footing and threw a hard pass to Nailor 28 yards downfield. It bobbled in Nailor’s hands, but he secured it with ease before hitting the ground — no review necessary.

“[Wide receivers coach] Keenan McCardell always tells me just ‘intention,’ ” Nailor said. “Eyes on the ball all the way through that I showed there.”

Four plays later, after attempts to Jefferson and Addison went incomplete on second and third down, McCarthy again went to Nailor on fourth-and-goal from the 10. He caught his second touchdown of the season, and the Vikings’ only passing TD of the day, in the back right corner of the end zone.

Ravens cornerback Nate Wiggins thought it couldn’t be a catch, signaling so as Nailor went down. But both of Nailor’s feet were well within bounds, and he held the ball tight to his stomach as he fell toward the turf.