Ravens' Lamar Jackson Dominates Quarterback Matchup Against Vikings

The Ravens pass-catchers only seemed to fully lock in during the Ravens' first touchdown drive in the third quarter, when they finally made good on Jackson's dishes to storm the end zone. It helped that he looked to have slowly grown more comfortable with Minnesota's pass-rush, who made short passes and screens extremely difficult with quick instincts and disruptive hands.

Yet another game came and went without a deep shot from one of the most accurate long passers in the sport, but he didn't need those highlights. He kept things simple at medium-distance, and eventually notched a touchdown for his counting stats with a toss to Andrews in the red.

Jackson's Younger Counterpart Struggling to Keep Stride

McCarthy couldn't match Jackson's passing reliability, but few have the patience to be as conservative as the Ravens quarterback. McCarthy didn't do himself any favors with a herculean 42 passes, though, which he completed under half of with two interceptions to boot.

Both Malaki Starks and Marlon Humphrey each took advantage of the Viking's desire for the deep ball, a play-call he never connected on in stamping the loss. They weren't even 50/50 balls, softly settling into the defensive backs' hands and growing more drastic as the game continued. McCarthy wasn't exactly accurate to begin with, and his throws only grew wilder as the afternoon progressed.

He still has a lot to learn in what could have been his sophomore season, but he tore his meniscus heading into the rookie campaign for every other quarterback in his loaded 2024 draft class. His 54.7% completion rate through four games still makes for a tough look, though, and it was the re-awakened Ravens defense who haunted him into a career-low 47.6% finish at home.

A lot of other factors contributed to the loss for Minnesota, with Justin Jefferson's inability to make plays and the group's mind-boggling eight total false starts certainly doing little to keep the Vikings' ship afloat, but McCarthy's mistakes aligned perfectly with Jackson's defensive dissection to doom the home team.