J.J. McCarthy, MN Vikings struggle in 22-6 loss to Atlanta Falcons

The Vikings’ much-ballyhooed upgrade in the straight-ahead, short-yardage power department is lacking. They ran 11 plays with fewer than three yards needed for a first down or touchdown. They converted only three times. Atlanta ran eight such plays and converted six times. O’Connell went for it on fourth-and-1 from his 36-yard line just 5½ minutes into the game. McCarthy’s sneak was stuffed when he fumbled the snap. Some of us asked, once again, “Where’s the beefy new running back, Jordan Mason, in that situation?” But even the 230-pound Mason had only four yards and two first downs in four attempts with one or two yards needed for a first down. He was stopped for no gain on third-and-1 and lost a yard on second-and-1. McCarthy sneaks went 1-for-2 on fourth-and-1. And in the KO-probably-got-too-cute department, McCarthy went 0-for-4 passing with a sack while throwing with fewer than three yards needed for a first down or touchdown.

Eight penalties for 50 yards is a lot when you’re running only 46 plays for 198 yards. What would have been the Vikings’ third-longest play of the game — an 18-yard run by Mason — was negated by a holding penalty on third-string left tackle Walter Rouse’s first offensive snap in the NFL. It came late in the third quarter with the Vikings trailing 12-6. Mason had reached the Atlanta 41, which would have been only the third time the Vikings crossed midfield in their first seven possessions. Instead, the drive ended with a punt short of midfield. Rouse, who had played only nine special teams snaps in two games in his two-year NFL career, was thrust into action after Justin Skule suffered a concussion. Center Ryan Kelly had suffered a concussion earlier.

“Obviously, when you got your backup center coming into the game and your third [left] tackle playing a significant amount of snaps, that’s going to be hard,” O’Connell said. “But there’s probably 10 teams that went through similar things today in the NFL.”