False starts, penalties plague Minnesota Vikings in loss against Baltimore Ravens
The Minnesota Vikings have just one game all season with fewer than seven penalties. They thought the pre-snap problems that plagued them early on were gone — not so fast.
They had 13 penalties for 102 yards and eight false starts Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens. Three of the false starts were by right tackle Brian O'Neill.
"We gotta operate better as a unit," said O'Neill after the game. "All 11 on the field, we can't have those negative plays. It hurt us today and I'll take it upon myself to make sure we get it fixed as a unit."
"We've gotta fix it," said head coach Kevin O'Connell. "We've gotta understand what was different today than what had been something we felt like we eliminated from early on in the season."
O'Connell said they tried to simplify their cadences as the false starts began piling up.
"I feel like the defense thinks the same way when it comes to that," quarterback J.J. McCarthy said. "So, it's just the level of focus. It's as simple as remember that snap count and execute it when the ball is snapped."
Playing at home, Minnesota employs more pre-snap calls and directions than on the road. Done by the offensive linemen in addition to the quarterback. That led to some of the false starts.
"Obviously hurts you a little bit even though it helps you," said tight end T.J. Hockenson. "I think we need to just use that as our gain and not theirs. We obviously didn't do that today. We gotta fix that. Come back and be able to use the communication, use the verbiage to our benefit."
"Sometimes it's hard to hear. They're making move calls up front so sometimes it sounds like it could be J.J. saying 'hut,'" said running back Aaron Jones. "But they're making move calls and you see them stem and so they're trying to get them to jump as well."
Lack of reps taken together, confusion, and poor discipline resulted in yellow laundry littering the turf before the ball had even moved.
"It just comes down to execution and being dialed in," said left tackle Christian Darrisaw, who had one false start. "It's all about the want to. Just being on the same page collectively. Just knowing when all 11 are on the same page and we can get the ball snapped good things can happen. Nobody's turning on each other in this locker room. We're gonna build from this and keep it moving."
Note: The above video first aired on Oct. 31, 2025.