Unsung heroes were everywhere in Vikings' win over Falcons
From the head coach in the headset to the defense getting big stops, the Vikings needed a complete effort to pull off a stunning comeback victory behind Josh Dobbs
By Matthew Coller
Following the Minnesota Vikings’ 31-28 win over the Atlanta Falcons, head coach Kevin O’Connell’s head was swimming with all the plays that had to come together to eek out the win behind a backup quarterback who just arrived in the middle of the week.
“Normally I can stand up here and talk about plays with you guys but there’s so many of them,” O’Connell said, still looking stunned at what he had just witnessed.
You can’t say enough times how unfathomable backup quarterback Josh Dobbs’ performance was considering the circumstances. Dobbs just arrived in Minnesota in the middle of the week and barely had time to learn his teammates’ names, much less grasp the entire playbook and then came in cold off the bench to lead the team to a win. Since rookie Jaren Hall started the game, Dobbs didn’t even get a chance in practice to take snaps from Garrett Bradbury or throw passes to Jordan Addison or Brandon Powell, yet somehow he found Addison and Powell in the biggest moments en route to a game-winning drive.
Dobbs was not alone in his uphill climb, rather he was carried by everyone from the play caller in his helmet to his offensive line to his receivers to the defense that bailed out miscues and gave the offense extra chances. That’s what made the game particularly special for the head coach.
“When you think about all the things you talk about every single day in your organization, that people matter, that culture matters, building the type of football team we want to have and what’s inside each and every single guy in that locker room and the feelings they have toward one another, these are the days that kind of cement why you believe what you believe as a coach,” O’Connell said.
O’Connell used every bit of his experience as a former quarterback to give Dobbs a chance. Once the new Viking QB entered the game, the head coach was guiding Dobbs through the plays in the headset by explaining the what he needed to do before he called them in the huddle. The verbal equivalent of drawing it up in the dirt.
“If you could hear the headset, there was a lot going on,” Dobbs said. “It was great that Kevin played quarterback so he knows what I’m going through so he was able to communicate effectively, ‘this is what you’re looking at, this is what you have on this side of the page, that is what you have on that side of the page,’ and he was able to talk in lingo where I’ve come from to simplify it for me.”
Dobbs said the process from the coaching staff started during the middle of the week preparation, when they still found ways to get him up to speed despite the fact he wasn’t starting.
“When you’re getting a rookie ready to play a lot of time goes into that but also a guy you just traded for and getting him ready to play,” Dobbs said. “When you’re already putting in extra time, that goes a long way. I appreciate the support I had all week to prepare me to make the most of the situation.”
Dobbs’ teammates helped him quickly learn the team’s snap counts and explained what was supposed to happen on the fly whenever he didn’t know the details of a given play.
“This one was learn-as-you-go, hair-is-on-fire, hold-onto-your-seat but guys were able to respond,” Dobbs said. “Being in a similar situation allowed me to be able to not be too prideful and communicate when I don’t know what’s going on and tell the coaches what I need to be successful. It was a team effort.”
The performances around Dobbs started with the offensive line. Dobbs only lost 12 total yards to sacks and had plenty of time to throw, averaging 3.06 seconds from snap to release per NFLNextGen stats, the fourth most time of any quarterback in Week 9.
“[The offensive line] looked at me and said, ‘what a great opportunity to go out there and be great,’ so it was great to have that response from them,” Dobbs said.
“Can’t give enough credit to a guy like Garrett Bradbury up there just solidifying the poise and understanding that it’s not going to sound the same and some of the huddle calls might sound a little different but Garrett, I told him, ‘you’re my make-it-right man today,’” O’Connell said.
One of the game balls, as shown on the team-released post-game speech video, was given to left tackle David Quessenberry for his play in a pinch. On Saturday the team announced that star left tackle Christian Darrisaw was questionable with a groin injury and then he was made inactive before the game.
The receivers had their own unique challenge in catching passes from Dobbs. Namely that they had never caught any passes from Dobbs before. Powell, who caught the game-winner, only got a few throws from the journeyman QB prior to the game.
“I think I threw a couple to him in pre-game warm-ups,” Dobbs said. “We were able to get in a little rhythm. I think I missed him on a throw just because in my head the route he was running was different from the route that he was running in this offense….the communication was awesome.”
Powell wasn’t the only receiver who stepped up to the challenge. KJ Osborn made a miraculous catch third-and-long to get the Vikings’ first scoring drive with Dobbs at the helm rolling. Osborn was hurt on the play but the conversion gave them some confidence that they could move the ball through the air. A few plays later, Dobbs found Jordan Addison for a 22-yard gain.
Suddenly Addison has been asked to be the leader of the receiver group as a rookie. He came through with a 24-yard reception on the go-ahead drive with just over one minute remaining. His grab included rising up off the ground and taking a shot from a Falcons defender as he came to the ground. In total Addison ended with 52 yards on five receptions.
TJ Hockenson was a security blanket for Dobbs, catching seven passes for 69 yards despite being banged up during the game. He picked up 29 yards to start the first scoring drive and then made a 6-yard catch right before the game-winning pass to Powell. In total, nine players had receptions, including a two-point conversion to Trishton Jackson, who had just one NFL catch before Sunday.
Brian Flores’ defense, which has come alive as a dangerous unit over the last month-plus, deserves every bit of the credit for the victory.
When Dobbs first entered the game, he was sacked for a safety, which gave the Falcons an opportunity to take a two-score lead early in the game. Instead Danielle Hunter sniffed out a pass in the backfield and crushed running back Tyler Allgeier for an 8-yard loss to hold Atlanta to a field goal. At that moment, a field goal rather than a touchdown probably felt like 100 points different to the Vikings as they were scrambling to get Dobbs acclimated.
Same goes for the following drive, where the defense saved the game. Dobbs fumbled while rolling out at his own 22-yard line and the Bengals ran it back to the goal line. Jordan Hicks and Josh Metellus buried Allgeier behind the line of scrimmage on third-and-goal and again the Vikings survived. Had the score been 19-3 after the safety and fumble, the comeback very likely never happens. ESPN’s Gamecast put the game at 50-50 win probability after the Vikings responded with a touchdown before halftime.
The Vikings opened the second half with another fumble that was swept under the rug by the defense as well. Hicks, whose career has been rejuvenated in Flores’ defense, sacked Taylor Heinicke for an 8-yard loss and forced another Atlanta field goal. Again the score could have been 18-10 and instead it was only a four-point deficit for Dobbs.
The running game was mostly stuffed throughout the game but on the following drive Cam Akers scampered for a 19-yard gain that took them from mid-field into field goal position. Unfortunately Akers suffered an Achilles injury later in the game.
While the defense was not perfect — tight end Jonnu Smith bolted for a 60-yard touchdown when a Flores blitz got beaten — they forced key turnovers for the fifth straight week that were the difference in the game. With the Vikings down 21-13, Akayleb Evans popped the ball loose from first-round running back Bijan Robinson and Metellus recovered. Last year both players were barely on the field. Now they are making important plays under Flores nearly every game.
Tied 21-21 late in the third, the defense came up with a takeaway that set up the Vikings to go ahead for the first time. The struggling Heinicke either misread his receiver or simply made an inaccurate throw that was picked off by Byron Murphy Jr. It should be noted that Greg Joseph was also a game ball recipient after making all of his field goals, bouncing back after a rough week in Green Bay.
“Every point was going to matter, I knew that,” O’Connell said. “If we could get a short field…that would be incredibly beneficial. The interception by Byron, Josh Metellus somehow coming out of that pile, Akayleb Evans punching that out with great technique and fundamentals, a guy that’s come a long way with his tackling. “This was a culmination of a lot of things and a lot of different avenues of our football team where at any particular moment it would have been understandable to let the circumstances overwhelm us but not this team.”
The run defense was downright heroic in its efforts. The Falcons entered the game 10th in rushing yards per game but the Vikings kept them below their season average and at just 3.9 yards per carry including three scrambles for 20 yards by Heinicke. When the ball was handed off, the defensive front allowed 90 yards on 23 runs.
And when the defense needed one more stop with 22 seconds remaining and the Falcons with a chance to get into field goal range, they made a tackle to keep the first play to a minimum and then Murphy Jr. broke up the final attempt at a bomb down the field.
The win took everyone, which is exactly how the head coach would have drawn it up.
“I'll quite honestly remember this one for a really long time,” O’Connell said.
Dobbs, at first glance, reminds me of Fran Tarkenton. Tarkenton, coming off the bench in his first game, beat the heavily favored Bears. This guy could wear out defenses with his running ability. Just like Tarkenton.