You’d need to be a genius to learn a new NFL offense and its dozens of plays in five days. Luckily, Joshua Dobbs is. The quarterback’s academic exploits are the stuff of legend and internet memedom. He graduated from the University of Tennessee with a perfect grade-point average and a degree in aerospace engineering, and instead of going on to a career in rocket science – which he’d have been plenty qualified for – he settled into a different life: that of the journeyman backup. Dobbs has been around the league since 2017, when the Pittsburgh Steelers made him a fourth-round pick. But the last few weeks have turned out to be his big breakthrough.
Dobbs started the year with his seventh franchise in seven seasons of pro ball: the Arizona Cardinals, who are playing for little more than an early draft pick next spring. So when the Minnesota Vikings lost starter Kirk Cousins for the year with a torn achilles last week, they chatted with Arizona and swung a deal for Dobbs. That was Tuesday. On Sunday, Dobbs wasn’t expecting to play but he was summoned from the bench when Jaren Hall was injured in the first quarter. He duly delivered a masterclass in being a quick study: Dobbs completed 20 of 30 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns, and despite coughing up a few fumbles to the Atlanta Falcons, he brought the Vikings back from the abyss.
He conducted a dramatic 11-play, 75-yard drive in the final two minutes to flip the result in the home team’s favor. The key plays were a 22-yard Dobbs scramble on fourth down-and-seven and a six-yard touchdown strike to Brandon Powell on third down with 27 seconds to go as they trailed by four.
However much Josh Dobbs is making this season, it's not enough.pic.twitter.com/8S2jJHLpBr
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) November 5, 2023
Final score: Vikings 31-28 Falcons. Minnesota have a 5-4 record that has them still playing meaningful football after an 0-3 start to September and Cousins’ injury in October. Dobbs hadn’t taken a single throw in practice with his receivers before Sunday’s game and admitted he didn’t even know most of their names. This in a league where hours and hours of practice with your teammates is crucial for your chances of success. “What he was able to do in really five days’ time was as impressive as I’ve seen a quarterback be able to do,” said Kevin O’Connell, the Vikings’ head coach.
Incredible stories from the Vikings' locker room today. Josh Dobbs didn't take a single rep with the offense in practice. No snaps from Garrett Bradbury. Had never thrown passes to anyone, and didn't know most of their full names. "That's for next week," he said.
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) November 5, 2023
Everyone watching seemed to feel the same way, except perhaps for the QB himself, who told reporters: “People don’t really care about your circumstance.” In an exceptionally challenging one, Dobbs delivered.
In fairness, even Dobbs couldn’t learn everything in his new playbook and concentrated on the plays he needed. His famous intellect helped. Dobbs explained after the game that O’Connell was talking him through playcalls in the pre-snap huddle, translating the ins and outs of playbook verbiage that Dobbs had only had a few days to conquer. The 28-year-old processed those discussions in the precious seconds before the play clock expired, and then he turned them into quality play against an NFL defense. Once the plays became about not just his brain, but his arm, Dobbs delivered throws all over the field. He was 2-for-2 for 46 yards on passes that traveled 20-plus yards downfield, according to league data, and he otherwise distributed the ball adeptly on short and intermediate routes.
Not every start Dobbs makes will be as magical as this one. But the NFL is a quarterback driven league, and at any given moment, many teams have no real hope of getting even close to average play at the position. The Vikings, when Cousins went down, figured to be one of those teams. But for now they are not, and their season still has hope thanks to a QB who could have done almost anything else.
MVP of the week
CJ Stroud, quarterback, Houston Texans. The Texans have their franchise quarterback in Stroud, who arrived via the No 2 pick in April’s draft and has needed shockingly little time to become one of the league’s better passers. Stroud’s entire season has been impressive, but optimism around him will reach a deserved fever pitch after he led a last-minute comeback drive to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 39-37. The decisive play was a 15-yard dart to a streaking Nathaniel “Tank” Dell with six seconds left on the clock, which pulled the Texans from down to up – for good. It was Stroud’s fifth touchdown on the day, with no interceptions to count against them, and he totaled 470 yards – the most ever in a game by a rookie – on 30-of-42 passing. On the season, he has 14 touchdowns and one interception: you can delete the “rising” from his rising star label.
Stat of the week
0-3. After Sunday’s 21-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, that’s the Miami Dolphins’ record this season against teams with winning records (they’ve also lost to the Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles). Does this mean they’re overrated? Not quite. The Chiefs, Eagles and Bills aren’t teams who have snuck over .500 - they’re all Super Bowl contenders. But the Dolphins have beaten bad teams this season by dominating the middle of the field on offense. That’s something they haven’t been able to do against upper-echelon defenses like the Chiefs and Eagles. Are Tua Tagovailoa and coach Mike McDaniel capable of making the necessary adjustments? The answer is crucial to Miami’s title chances.
Video of the week
This was flagged for roughing the passer pic.twitter.com/T7d76u5vgJ
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) November 5, 2023
The NFL is protective of its quarterbacks, sometimes egregiously so. A galling flag for roughing the passer in Sunday’s Washington Commanders-New England Patriots game was a good example. Commanders defensive end KJ Henry was the unfortunate victim. In exchange for cleanly rounding the edge of the offensive line and taking down Patriots quarterback Mac Jones, an official penalized him 15 yards. Worse yet, it wiped out what would’ve been his first professional sack. The cartoonish assist from the officials was not enough, however, to swing the result in New England’s favor. Washington won 20-17, and the Patriots fell to 2-7 as their slide from relevance became steeper.
Elsewhere around the league
-- The Dallas Cowboys gave the Philadelphia Eagles a good run on Sunday afternoon. The only problem with Dak Prescott’s 23-yard pass to CeeDee Lamb on the final play of the game was that the end zone was 27 yards away, not 23. (Lamb also fumbled as he tried to lateral the ball away.) It was a gutsy last gasp effort against one of the best teams in the NFL, but Philly got just enough from Jalen Hurts to make a furious defensive effort stand up in their 28-23 win. The Eagles sacked Prescott five times and hit him five more as they moved to 8-1, the league’s best record. Dallas, now 5-3, missed their best chance to keep the Eagles within arm’s length in the NFC East race.
-- The Cincinnati Bengals won their fourth game in a row to move to 5-3, and edge their opponents on Sunday Night Football, the 5-4 Buffalo Bills, for the final AFC wildcard spot. It also means that all four AFC North teams would be in the playoffs if the season ended today. For the Bengals, a now fully fit Joe Burrow continues to shine, as do his receivers, defense and offensive line. And while there’s no disgrace in losing 24-18 to the Bengals, the Bills next face the Denver Broncos, New York Jets and then a daunting three game stretch against the Eagles, Chiefs and Cowboys.
-- The Seattle Seahawks looked like one thing when they got to Baltimore, and they looked like another after the Ravens were done with them. Seattle took a 37-3 thrashing that dropped their record to 5-3, and Baltimore moved to 7-2 with the kind of dominance that usually requires the opponent to do some soul-searching. For the Ravens, it was a rushing exhibition. Keaton Mitchell led the attack with nine carries for 138 yards, including one for 60 and another for 40 and a touchdown. Lamar Jackson added 60 yards on 10 runs of his own, and the team averaged better than seven yards as a whole on 41 carries. Baltimore had 16 rushing first downs. Seattle had one.
What is even happening in this game 🤯 pic.twitter.com/7Ynjfmplt1
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) November 5, 2023
-- Dare Ogunbowale has played seven NFL seasons. Entering the week, he’d totaled 130 carries, 78 receptions, five touchdowns, 21 kick returns, and most certainly zero field goals, extra points, or any other numbers not germane to someone who plays running back. But an in-game injury to Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn put Ogunbowale in an unusual and high-pressure spot, and he delivered in his role as emergency placekicker. (The Texans didn’t use their punter, Cameron Johnston; he holds on placekicks, and kicking and punting are vastly different skills.) The Texans sent out Ogunbowale for a 29-yard field goal in a tied game in the fourth quarter, when their fourth-and-11 distance made going for it untenable for coach DeMeco Ryans. Ogunbowale, who also produced three touchbacks on kickoffs, delivered. That all helped set up Stroud’s heroics.
-- The Cleveland Browns opened the day with 35-1 odds to win the Super Bowl, which seemed a little long. Yes, the Deshaun Watson injury situation has been weird but in his last two complete games he has four touchdowns to zero interceptions. They’re far from a title favorite but, with arguably the best defense in the league, the 5-3 Browns only need Watson to be a league average quarterback to stay relevant. Sunday’s 27-0 shutout over the Cardinals was evidence of that. The Browns defense smothered the (very limited) opposition, and all Watson had to be was fine, which he was.
-- The New York Giants’ miserable season continues. Their 30-6 defeat to the Las Vegas Raiders sent them to 2-7 and they also lost quarterback Daniel Jones to what the team fear is a torn ACL. Jones signed a four-year, $160m contract with the Giants in the offseason. But there’s a potential out at the end of next season – would they go for Drake Maye or Caleb Williams if they end up picking at the top of next year’s draft?
