The Minnesota Vikings have a winning record for the first time in the 2023 NFL season. It certainly hasn’t happened the way anyone would have drawn it up, but it has made for an incredible story. The Vikings penned another remarkable chapter in that story on Sunday with their win over the Atlanta Falcons, in extraordinary fashion.
Coming off a low-point in the season with the Kirk Cousins injury, the Vikings took the field with rookie quarterback Jaren Hall at the helm. Hall, the team’s fifth-round selection out of BYU, was making his first career start, and was slated to be the team’s leader moving forward for the foreseeable future.
Unfortunately for Hall, that future didn’t even last a full quarter, as Hall was forced to leave the game just before the end of the first quarter with a concussion.
In came brand new Viking Josh Dobbs. Dobbs had been acquired at the trade deadline from the Arizona Cardinals. He hadn’t received any first-team reps in practice. He hardly knew the playbook. Hell, Dobbs barely even knew the names of the guys he was playing with.
But none of that mattered, as Dobbs pulled off the absurd and brought Minnesota back on a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter. With all of that as the back-drop for our article this week, let’s dive into the good, bad and ugly from the Week 9 win over the Atlanta Falcons.
The good: Josh Dobbs’ escapability
The plan was never for Josh Dobbs to take over this quickly. He had just been brought in. Hadn’t had any time with the ones. This was supposed to be Jaren Hall’s moment. But, as with most things in life, the plan had to quickly be thrown out the window when Hall went down with a concussion.
It was time for Dobbs to come in and make the best out of a bad situation, and that is exactly what he did. While he wasn’t able to be effective as a passer for most of the game, Dobbs was able to make up for it with his legs and his escapability. Dobbs was the team’s leading rusher on Sunday with 66 yards on just seven attempts.
More than the yardage, the impressive part is just how Dobbs got those yards, and when. Most of Dobbs’ yardage came on plays where he was forced to scramble out of the pocket and make something out of nothing – and that more than any other aspect, is where Dobbs excelled on Sunday. Dobbs was able to pick up big play after big play with his legs, including picking up a crucial touchdown on the ground.
The familiarity with the passing game and his receivers will come. To see that Dobbs was able to make plays in other ways is a comforting sign going forward at the position if Hall is unable to come back next week.
The bad: Porous offensive line
When the quarterback is your leading rusher, it’s typically an indictment of the running backs and the offensive line. That’s especially true when that quarterback is the backup who has been with the team for less than a week.
Much has been made about the Vikings’ inability to get the running game going, and that inability was once again on full display against the Falcons. The crux of the issue in this game was the absolute turnstile that was the Vikings offensive line.
By Pro Football Focus grades, the Minnesota Vikings offensive line has been one of the best units all season, and in particular, have been a very good run-blocking unit. That was definitively not the case on Sunday. The offensive line – particularly the right side of the line – was consistently blown back by the Falcons front four. The running lanes for Mattison and Akers were, for the most part, completely non-existent.
It was one of the worst performances on the season for a crew that had been solid. Injuries certainly played a role in their poor performance, but that doesn’t explain away all of it. They are going to have to be better going forward, especially with young and inexperienced guys at quarterback.
The good: Game-winning drive
The biggest story from this game, without a doubt, is the performance of Josh Dobbs. While the stats aren’t going to impress anyone, Dobbs’ contribution to this game goes well beyond the box score – particularly down the stretch of the game.
Dobbs only threw for 158 yards on the day, averaging just 5.3 yards per completion. But he was able to make the big plays when it counted most, and when it counted most was on the team’s final drive. Dobbs was able to come in and march the Vikings downfield, take charge of the offense, and give the team a touchdown when they absolutely had to have it.
Dobbs took the Vikings offense down the field 75 yards in just under two minutes. When faced with a do-or-die third down from the Falcons’ two yard line, Dobbs was able to stand tall in the pocket, buy some time, and hit Brandon Powell for the go-ahead touchdown with just 22 seconds left.
The poise, command, and off-script ability Dobbs was able to show all day – and in particular on the final drive – was a sight to behold given just how little time Dobbs has spent with the team. There’s no doubt about who the player of the game was today.
The ugly: Injuries
If it weren’t for Dobbs and his incredible performance, the story of this game would be the injuries. The Vikings have been hit hard by the injury bug lately – most notably with Cousins – and they were hit hard once again on Sunday.
The hits started before the game even got underway, with the news that starting offensive tackle Christian Darrisaw was going to miss the game. Darrisaw’s absence was felt in a big way along the offensive line, but the hits just kept coming once the game got underway.
Obviously the big one was Hall leaving with a concussion in the first quarter. Just minutes after Hall left the game, wide receiver KJ Osborn was forced to leave the game with a concussion of his own. Then, in the fourth quarter, the Vikings suffered their most damaging blow, as running back Cam Akers was likely lost for the season with what the team fears is a ruptured Achilles tendon.
The Vikings have been absolutely snake-bitten by injuries this season, yet they keep finding ways to keep the momentum going. The NFL is a “next man up” league, and no one has exemplified that more this season than Minnesota.
The good news is that star wide receiver Justin Jefferson may be close to a return. But for now, the injuries are really doing a number on a team fighting to do the improbable and make a playoff run from an 0-3 start.
