From the start of the season, the Minnesota Vikings have had a trend that dictates just how well a game will go, and it’s not their turnover production.

The Vikings have failed to score a first-half touchdown in six of their 10 games, and they’ve gone 1-5 in those contests, the only win being Week 1 in Chicago.

We can no longer say, Maybe it’s the quarterback. J.J. McCarthy has been on the field for three first-half touchdowns, while Carson Wentz was on the field for four.

So why is the offense struggling so mightily early in games?

Inexperience

McCarthy is in his first season as the starter for this Vikings squad. While he has been looking better as games go along, McCarthy’s first-half numbers leave a lot to be desired.

In the first half, he has gone 42 of 69 with a pair of touchdowns and a handful of interceptions while getting sacked 10 times for 49 yards. While his completion percentage in the second half is worse (32 for 71), he has four touchdowns and three interceptions in the second half while being sacked five times for 28 yards.

McCarthy has also shown a tendency to sail the ball over open receivers, hang on to the ball too long, and miss on gotta-have-it plays. The 22-year-old is still in the early phase of his development, and his inconsistency has held the offense back.

Still, McCarthy alone hasn’t had first-half struggles.

Before Carson Wentz underwent shoulder surgery, ending his season, he had a completion percentage of 64.2% in the first half with a single touchdown and three interceptions. Meanwhile, he went 65.9% with five touchdowns and two picks in the second half when he was filling in for five games for McCarthy, who had a high ankle sprain.

Poor playcalling

While the fans focus on McCarthy’s struggles because the Vikings drafted him to be their franchise quarterback, his inexperience isn’t the lone source of first-half turmoil.

Minnesota’s offensive play-calling has been lackluster, to put it nicely, especially in the first half when the team is trying to set the tone.

Before last week’s contest, the team was 10 of 29 on third-and-three or less, opting for pass plays instead of running the ball with Aaron Jones or Jordan Mason, who are hard to bring down.

The Vikings have carried the ball 222 times, third-to-last in the league, behind only the Tennessee Titans and Cincinnati Bengals. Yet the Vikings are in the top 10 in the league in yards per carry, at 4.7.

While continually playing from behind has been a huge problem for the Vikings, it doesn’t mean they have to abandon the run game altogether. Instead, the coaching staff is going to the air when this team is fully capable of picking up short yardage on the ground.

Penalties

While people have naturally focused on short-yardage situations, penalties have also killed many of Minnesota’s drives.

The Vikings commit the third-most presnap penalties in the NFL with 34. The only two teams below them are the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants, with 35. By taking these penalties, especially early in the game, Minnesota has gotten off to slow starts.

When the Vikings are constantly behind the sticks and in obvious passing situations, defenses have been able to exploit McCarthy’s inexperience and the poor play-calling.

Inexperience, poor play-calling, and penalties have affected the first half of games in particular. However, these issues have also persisted throughout the game. These get accentuated in the first half, where Minnesota’s opponents are outsourcing them 114-98, and 111-64 if you exclude the Bengals game.

Unfortunately, there is no easy fix for Minnesota’s first-half woes, and there are only seven games left to get right. The Vikings are running out of time.