SKOL from the Sofa
2025 Week 10 – Ravens at Vikings

Three things are certain in life: death, taxes and the Vikings losing the week after a victory in 2025. With defeat to the Ravens on Sunday, the Vikings reach the midpoint of their season below .500, but it could have been so different. Looking back on another disappointing loss, content writer Jonathan Pye brings you another instalment of SKOL from the Sofa.

This time last week, I wrote for the SKOL from the Sofa that the Lions game was the utopia of what the 2025 Vikings could be. Well, the week 10 matchup against the Ravens was the antithesis of last week’s performance. If last week was complimentary football, this was uncomplimentary football. The tale of the day: poor offensive play calling, eight false start penalties, two kickoff return fumbles and two J. J. McCarthy interceptions. For what it’s worth, the defense held up its side of the bargain, as did the über-reliable Will Reichard.

Untimely offensive playcalling

On a day when the Vikings faced 14 third downs and five fourth downs on offense, we threw the ball on every occasion. Now of course no one is calling for coach O’Connell to dial up a run play on a 3rd-and-12 or a 3rd-and-15, but seven of the 19 plays came when we needed four yards or fewer. The Vikings averaged seven yards a carry on the ground on Sunday, but on none of those seven occasions did we run the ball. This would beg the question, what was the point of spending all the money on the interior offensive line and trading for a bell cow running back in Jordan Mason in the offseason?

The worst of these occasions was the interception J. J. McCarthy threw on 3rd-and-1 at the beginning of the third quarter. We had previously stalled out to start the half and it was a prime opportunity to reset the changes and have a fresh set of downs as we were already approaching field goal range. Kevin O’Connell’s motto is that teams fail young quarterbacks rather than young quarterbacks failing their teams. Isn’t coach going against his mantra here? The play itself you cannot blame McCarthy for as Jefferson slipped after the ball was thrown and there was no checkdown on the play.

The rollercoaster of a young quarterback’s journey

Sunday was another McCarthy rollercoaster. Another game where he had a positive quarter in it, he played superbly to start the day a great throw on 3rd-and-5 to Jalen Nailor (who had a career day). Unfortunately, there are clear flaws in McCarthy’s mechanics that mean he sails the ball on his receivers.

It also seems that when the first read that coach draws up isn’t available, McCarthy has trouble progressing through his reads and finding his open man. On his first interception, effectively an arm punt, he had an opportunity to tuck the ball and would have had to beat one man (Roquan Smith) to get the first down.

This is on top of his problems with applying the appropriate touch on the ball; in the fourth quarter, 40% of his throws were off target. However, context is always important. It’s only McCarthy’s fourth professional start. If we look at prospects with similar flaws entering the league, Josh Allen was comparable and look at him eight years on. The growing pains are worth it. We need to have an idea about whether McCarthy is the long term answer as the first franchise quarterback since Fran Tarkenton. The desperation is real, but we must accept growing pains are the norm for young quarterbacks entering the league.

Indiscipline proves costly

Eight false starts on offense at home – when was the last time that has happened to an NFL team? (editor’s note: it was the Bills in 2009!) US Bank Stadium is known for being a venue where many false starts occur in part due to the crowd but usually it’s the away team that has the nightmare. It’s something the Vikings need to clear up. Whether it’s the young quarterback and issues with cadence or the new center Blake Brandel who had never played the position before this season, pre-snap penalties are a killer, especially as a team with a young quarterback who cannot afford to get behind the chains.

Myles Price has had a stellar year as our returner and perhaps he was due a bad performance. However, ball security was always likely to be an issue eventually as he invariably brings the ball out from deep. He should because he’s an explosive returner, but sometimes it comes at cost. Even the great Cordarrelle Paterson fumbled on kickoff returns from time to time. Hopefully the young man learns from it and this isn’t the beginning of the end for him as the kickoff and punt returner.

Positives on defense

For a second consecutive game, the defense largely nullified an elite rushing attack. Derrick Henry only averaged four yards a carry on 20 attempts and Lamar Jackson was contained to nine rushes for 36 yards. Equally, we snuffed out the Ravens’ quick game behind the line of scrimmage, with Andrew Van Ginkel’s presence causing his usual carnage. Had he played more this season, I think he would be the team MVP. He was superb last year, and even better this campaign. The short fields were a killer to the defense and they played good “bend don’t break” ball; however, other aspects like the offensive playcalling and penalties meant they just couldn’t keep us in the game.

An eye on next week

The Ravens game is the bellwether game for Vikings head coaches. They win and make the NFC Championship; lose and they get fired or the coach has already been fired. This year will be different, but there are lessons that need to be learned. Either coach O’Connell needs to change his outlook on third- and fourth-and-short situations or he needs to give up playcalling. He is a superb head coach but something needs to change with the playcalling. The make-or-break of his tenure at the Vikings will be decided by whether he can develop a quarterback who can help us challenge for and ultimately win a championship.

Do you want to have your say about an upcoming Vikings game? Is something really grinding your gears? You can have your say right here in Skol from the Sofa. Just drop us an email at UKVikingsFanClub@gmail.com or send us a DM on any of our social media channels.