It was a game of returning QBs. The Minnesota Vikings, led by J.J. McCarthy, ended Week 10 with a disappointing loss (19-27), while Lamar Jackson took the Ravens to their fourth win of the 2025 season. Vikes head coach Kevin O’Connell threw the quarterback under the bus for not playing at his full capacity.

“Maybe there was some a little bit more of a hard count emphasis by JJ at certain times. I don’t know, we have multiple cadences and guys not had a very large issue with the cadence this year. But JJ obviously, his first start on the road from post injury was last week,” O’Connell said in the postgame conference today.

“So we didn’t have him a lot of cadence in Detroit. So whatever was unearthed today needs to get fixed immediately.” McCarthy’s performance was pathetic.

He completed 20 of 42 passes (47.6% completion rate) for 248 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions. That’s the highest yards he has gained in any game this year. But the accuracy was nowhere to be seen as it is his lowest completion rate in a single game in 2025. That hurt them badly.

Overall, as well, this is his second in four games when he has thrown 2 interceptions. Just like their score has more losses than wins, the QB also has 5 TDs in 4 games, but 6 picks.

This has affected their overall offense, too. Not only the cadence, but there have been some team issues too, which came up too prominently today to ignore.

Wide receiver Justin Jefferson had the highest number of targets (12) but caught only 4 of them for 37 yards. He even failed to score. Kevin O’Connell might have ignored them in his QB’s comeback against the Lions. In week 9, too, Jefferson only caught 6 of 9 targets for 47 yards, but he scored then. Against the Ravens, he failed.

The Ravens kept the scoreboard moving, even when they failed to score touchdowns, they created enough opportunities for their kicker, Tyler Loop, who converted 4 of 5 field goals. The Vikes, by contrast, managed only 2.

There were some flaws in their planning as well. It caused them more damage than they anticipated.

Kevin O’Connell needs to pay attention to penalties

The Minnesota Vikings’ loss to the Baltimore Ravens wasn’t just about missed chances. It was about self-destruction through penalties. Despite outgaining the Ravens 365 to 321 yards and averaging a solid 6 yards per play, the Vikings couldn’t overcome their own mistakes.

“Defense kept us in it all day long by their battle against a really, really good offense. But lose the turnover battle three-nothing and then the penalty situation, which we’ve got to get fixed immediately,” Kevin O’Connell said while acknowledging their poor play.

“When you average over six yards a play on offense, it’s all for not if you’re going to be giving back so many of those yards in different capacities. We’ve got to find a way to first and foremost correct whatever the issue was,” he added.

Minnesota was flagged 13 times for 102 yards, compared to just 5 penalties for 62 yards by Baltimore. Every time the Vikings started to build momentum, a yellow flag pulled them back. The penalties included costly false starts, holds, and defensive lapses that gave the Ravens free first downs.

Those penalties killed drives and flipped field position. Instead of moving the chains, Minnesota found itself staring at third-and-longs. Even worse, two of their five fourth-down tries failed, often after earlier penalties pushed them into desperate situations.

The Ravens weren’t perfect, but they played cleaner football.

Baltimore converted 6 of 15 third downs, while Minnesota went a miserable 3 of 14 chances. The Vikings also turned the ball over three times (2 picks + 1 sack), compounding the damage from penalties. The Vikings beat themselves.

With over 100 penalty yards, three turnovers, and constant disruptions to rhythm, they handed Baltimore extra possessions and opportunities. Clean up even half those mistakes, and this game could have gone the other way.