Despite a 1-4 start to the NFL season, the Minnesota Vikings have managed to, somehow, play themselves into playoff contention. Having gone 6-2 over the past 8 games, the Vikings now occupy the 6th seed in the someone-has-to-make-it back end of NFC wild card race. With a victory at 7th seed and division rival, Green Bay Packers, earlier in the season, Minnesota are firmly in the driver’s seat to qualify for a birth in the 2024 post season.
More impressive is that this has been without franchise, yet oft-critiqued quarterback, Kirk Cousins, who has put up a borderline MVP stat line over the past 2 years – ever since his season ending Achilles injury in Week 8 against, ironically, the Packers.
Since then, the Vikings have been privy to the wonders of Joshua Dobbs since his miraculous, fresh-off-the-plane win against the New Orleans Saints. But, after the initial impressiveness wore off, Dobbs’ play has slipped over the past few weeks, resulting in his benching in the Vikings’ 3-0 win at the Las Vegas Raiders.
And now, it looks like Dobbs may have an extended tenure on the bench, as Kevin O’Connell and the Minnesota Vikings announced a change at signal caller, per Ian Rapoport.
A QB change for the #Vikings: Nick Mullens is set to start against the #Bengals, with Josh Dobbs heading to the bench, per me and @TomPelissero.
Mullens is healthy after his time on Injured Reserve and now jumps into a playoff race. pic.twitter.com/M1cthGN6C9
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 12, 2023
Why Is Nick Mullens The New Starting QB For The Minnesota Vikings?
Performance, really. On Sunday, after replacing Dobbs for the former undrafted 49er, Nick Mullens, Kevin O’Connell had this to say about the situation.
“We’ll take a look at it. I don’t wanna get into declaring anything,” O’Connell said, per the team’s official X account. “We’re a week-to-week offense at this point … and we’ll let you guys know as the week goes on.”
Being intentionally coy and non-committal is rarely a good sign for an incumbent starter, as head coaches are normally very quick to defend their QBs, even if they are potentially considering a change. The fact that O’Connell was verbally spelling out ambiguity at the short-term future of the position really should have been taken as a signing of the (metaphorical) death warrant.
After a very poor, 4 interception game against the Chicago Bears at their last outing, the Vikings were already considering changes at the position. And when Dobbs came out poorly against reasonably below-part Las Vegas Raiders defense that ranks middle-of-the-pack in Defensive DVOA, putting up 10 for 23 passing for just 63 yards through the air, it was clear that Minnesota needed to make a change.
This week the Vikings go up against the Cincinnati Bengals, who are coming off an impressive 20 point 34-14 win against the Indianapolis Colts, where the Vikings are 3.5 point underdogs – let’s see what Mullens can do!
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