What Vikings teacher Kevin O’Connell did to help Joshua Dobbs get via a comeback win, one second at a time
Brandon Powell spiked the ball he caught from Joshua Dobbs over the game-winning touchdown during the Vikings’ 31–28 win in Atlanta on Sunday.
At the same time, assistant equipment supervisor Adam Groene walked up behind Kevin O’Connell and took the headset that the coach was wearing while celebrating.
Some of Dobbs’s plays cost the team the game, like two turnovers, yet he added some important ones that sealed the win.
After going 20/30, he threw for 158 yards as well as two touchdowns and ran for 66 yards as well as another score.
That was good enough for ESPN to name him the best quarterback of the week going to Monday Night Football.
Also, it was good enough over him to keep starting over the team. Coach Kevin O’Connell said on Monday that Dobbs would start toward the Saints.
After five games, both the Saints and the Vikings have a record of 5-4. Both teams are still in the running for the playoffs.
The Minnesota Vikings will play with Joshua Dobbs, which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise given how well he played in his first game with the team on Sunday.
The Vikings traded for Dobbs last week after Kirk Cousins hurt his Achilles. On Monday, head coach Kevin O’Connell announced that Dobbs will start on Sunday toward the New Orleans Saints.
Dobbs came in to play on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium within Atlanta after youngster Jaren Hall got hit in the head in the first quarter.
He then ran in a third touchdown and threw for two more. In the last two minutes, he led the Vikings upon a drive that won the game 31–28.
To prepare, Dobbs will work with the first team all week and start on the Sunday against the Saints.
Last week, he had to do a lot of things quickly to get ready. When Hall is done with the concussion procedure, Shawn Mannion will likely fill in as his backup.
O’Connell told ESPN, “I thought that what he did was amazing, but there are a lot of things we’ll coach him through so as to make him a little more comfortable with what we do.”
This is Dobbs’ fifth team within the last year. He arrived in Minneapolis in Tuesday of last week.
He began the season as part of the Cardinals, who got him from the Cleveland Browns, who acquired him within a trade in late August.
He started as the replacement of Kyler Murray, who was hurt, but was taken out of the game right before the swap deadline.
Dobbs took time to get himself going with Atlanta on Sunday. On only his third play, he took a tackle that led to a safety, and he lost the ball twice.
But Dobbs pulled the Vikings within one point before halftime with a touchdown pass of two yards to Alexander Mattison. He then tied the game with a crazy 18-yard run and two-point conversion.
Before his first play as the Vikings’ backup quarterback, Josh Dobbs joined the offensive line for a quick chat.
His new friends wanted to be sure that he knew the five main rhythms they’ve been using this season. This is something that is usually talked about on the initial day of workout camp.
When the Vikings got Dobbs on Tuesday from the Cardinals of Arizona, he didn’t get to play with the team at all during their training week.
He hadn’t thrown an actual pass to any of their targets or taken a snap from center Garrett Bradbury before Sunday.
But Dobbs had to step in when rookie star Jaren Hall got a concussion in the first quarter on Sunday during Mercedes-Benz Stadium. What happened next was one of the most interesting stories of the NFL season.
Dobbs led the Minneapolis Vikings to a thrilling 31–28 win over the Atlanta Falcons after they got off to a slow start. He later said that he had no idea most their full names.