Coach Kevin O’Connell of the Minnesota Vikings underlined the necessity of selecting a quarterback who would best leverage Justin Jefferson’s return to the offense, opting for Josh Dobbs in a Week 14 clash against the Las Vegas Raiders.
That proved to be a bad decision, as the mobile journeyman was forced to flee for his life throughout the most of the game. Dobbs struggled to find his receivers, completing only 10 of 23 passes for 63 yards and was sacked five times.
After his first look on the team’s first drive nearly resulted in a pick-6, Jefferson didn’t see a solid target until the second quarter.
On December 11, O’Connell discussed how his game plan for Dobbs had changed with Jefferson in the lineup, emphasizing the need of staying in the pocket and delivering the football, which Dobbs struggled to do all day until being benched in the team’s 3-0 win.
“Those are things that truly pertain to using the shotgun more. “You’re trying to stay efficient and then work some of those maybe plays where you can move him off the spot. We use the keeper game on some plays, but in the end, in this league, you still need to drop back and throw the football, especially to maximize a guy like Justin Jefferson,” O’Connell said at a press conference on December 11.
“We wanted to have some plays to do because some of our play pass protections still need to be improved.” I assumed there were some basic breakdowns that contributed to some of our sack totals. But I’m not a fan of discussing how close you are. We certainly weren’t [effective] in the pass game yesterday.”
Josh Dobbs struggles to Take Over the Vikings Offense
O’Connell did not appear to have a backup strategy to maximize Dobbs after Jefferson left the game.
The play-calling style reverted to one that was better suited to Kirk Cousins, as Dobbs was rarely schemed outside the pocket.
After Sunday’s performance, having Dobbs at center and structuring the strategy to maximize Jefferson appear incompatible. Dobbs failed to distribute the ball in the pocket with the appropriate readings and timing even when Jefferson was in the game.
It’s troubling that, despite having an extra week to work through Dobbs’ growing pains, O’Connell went with a mediocre game plan.
The Vikings will reveal the starting quarterback for Week 15 in the coming days, and O’Connell would be surprised to see him tip his hat to Dobbs again because the Vikings coach is adamant about running the offense he devised in the offseason.
The Vikings will face a former quarterback in primetime against the Bengals.
The Vikings’ quarterback issues will be highlighted on December 16 when former backup Jake Browning, who was released in 2022, takes the field for the Cincinnati Bengals.
After Joe Burrow suffered a season-ending wrist injury in a November 16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the Bengals discovered a way to utilize Browning.
Browning, who was replaced by Nick Mullens during the 2022 preseason, has completed 69 of 87 pass attempts (79.3%) for 856 yards, four touchdowns, and two interceptions while going 2-1 as a starter.
