The Minnesota Vikings are going to be in for a dogfight on Sunday afternoon when they take on the Atlanta Falcons At Mercedes Benz Stadium.
It will also be the first game quarterback Kirk Cousins has ever missed due to injury in his National Football League career. That fact brings the first NFL start for quarterback Jaren Hall on Sunday.
The rookie from BYU is going to be surrounded by arguably the best situation in the NFL for a young quarterback and Justin Jefferson can’t return until next week. Can he step up in a major way for the Vikings and potentially be the franchise quarterback the Vikings have been hoping for? That is one of the storylines that will take center stage on Sunday.
Managing editor Tyler Forness: How will the running game change with Jaren Hall?
Having a mobile quarterback changes things for a playcaller. You can do a lot of different things with a true dual-threat like Hall. The inclusions of plays like RPOs, option runs and more bootlegs will likely be in the gameplan, but how will the running game be impacted? Will O’Connell add those elements along with helping the running game? The more misdirection and forcing defenders to think the better for the Vikings offense.
Columnist Judd Zulgad: Kevin O'Connell's playcalling
While O’Connell will have to take some plays out of the playbook, he also will get the opportunity to run some looks that he would have avoided with Cousins. The rest of the season will be interesting to watch just to see what O’Connell does in dialing up plays and how much he changes things with a different style of quarterback. At least if it’s Hall or Dobbs. Their ability to move could buy time for receivers to get open and could improve what has been a lifeless run game.
Columnist Saivion Mixson: Brian Flores vs. Arthur Smith
Styles make fights. Two styles could not be more similar, yet so polar opposite in their philosophical approach than Brian Flores and Arthur Smith. Flores enjoys dictating the pace of the game and speeding up the quarterback’s processing to force turnovers. Arthur Smith enjoys dictating the pace by slowing the game down, eating up clock and taking away possessions.
Both coaches are aggressive in their approach to their respective aims. Flores lines up to eight in the box and could show an all-out blitz every snap if he so pleases. Smith lines up extra bodies on the line, from tight ends to extra linemen, to further nail down the point that Atlanta wants to run the ball right at you and you are going to have to stop it. Who will prevail? Whose philosophy will hold up at the end of the day?
Columnist Chris Spooner: Battle of the backups
Fans tuning in to watch the Vikings face the Falcons will see not one, but two “backup” quarterbacks thrust into action. While the Vikings’ move was out of necessity in the wake of Kirk Cousins tearing his Achilles tendon, the Falcons’ move seems to be strictly performance-based. Out is former starter Desmond Ridder, and in comes Taylor Heinicke. Heinicke is no stranger to the starting role, having had a decent amount of success with Washington as their starter for the majority of two seasons. Now in Atlanta, we’ll get a first-hand look at what Heinicke can do with the likes of Bijan Robinson, Kyle Pitts, and Drake London at his disposal. On the other side, Jaren Hall makes his first start in relief of Kirk Cousins, after coming into last week’s game to close out the fourth quarter. Will Hall be able to do enough to keep the momentum going for the Vikings? Will he play well enough to stave off Josh Dobbs, whom the Vikings brought in from Arizona at the trade deadline?
