ELECTRIC ENCORE

VIKINGS 27

SAINTS 19

Last week, Joshua Dobbs orchestrated one of the most improbable wins in recent Vikings memory, an exhilarating last minute comeback led by a QB who had been with the team less than a week. 

So what do you do for an encore? Was last week just a fluke, and this week would be the great comedown?

It's no fluke. Small sample size and all that, but Dobbs is the real deal, and he was even better against the Saints than he was against the Falcons. 

Well, for a half. This game was kind of a tale of two halves. The first was electric, and dominant. The second was conservative, and needlessly tense.

But oh that first half. The Vikings scored on 4 of their 5 possessions, and the crowd was as juiced as I have ever heard it in that building. The excitement over Dobbs was palpable, and every time he scrambled or made a big throw it was like a rock star playing the hits.

After a slightly slow start where the teams each had a field goal, the action got going. Dobbs led a 75 yard touchdown drive, including a fantastic 3rd down scramble where he then found an open TJ Hockenson for a big conversion. A few plays later, Ty Chandler took a direct snap and zipped into the endzone for his 1st career touchdown.

The next drive ended with Dobbs making another highlight scramble away from a collapsing pocket, and running it in himself. Dobbs took over the team lead in rushing touchdowns in his 2nd game. 

To cap the half, Dobbs made it 2 for 2 in having terrific 2 minute drills, driving the Vikings 76 yards in a minute and a half, and firing a fantastic TD strike down the middle to Hockenson. Hockenson, playing hurt with beat up ribs, had 10 catches for over 100 yards by halftime.

After forcing a 3 and out to open the 3rd, the Vikings again drove to a score, a Greg Joseph field goal that pushed the lead to a thunderous 27-3. And this against a pretty good defense, mind you.

So how does this become yet another Vikings game that comes down to the final minutes?

Well, a few things happened. One, on the Saints next drive after the field goal, Derek Carr took a crushing hit from Danielle Hunter, and was knocked from the game, replaced by Jameis Winston. Now, Winston was too erratic to stick for long as a franchise QB, but he IS talented, with a powerful arm. He was one of the many names floated as trade targets for the Vikings after the Kirk injury. Winston showed his talent by throwing a couple highlight reel TD passes in the 2nd half, one a corner shot to Chris Olave, and a ridiculous across-field strike to A.T. Perry. Both were caught on Byron Murphy, but they were more just great plays by them. Sometimes you just gotta tip your cap.

The other main thing that dragged the 2nd half down was that Kevin O'Connell got VERY conservative. The playcalling got very vanilla with the big lead, robbing Dobbs of many opportunities to make plays. It was a lot of unproductive runs, although Chandler did have a couple good ones. 5 of the final 6 drives ended in punts. The one that didn't was even worse, as KOC foolishly decided to have Joseph try a 54 yard field goal on a 4th and 3. Why not trust your QB to make a play?

We also kept snapping the ball early in the play clock, often with 10+ seconds left on it. And KOC mismanaged his challenges, not throwing the flag on a Dobbs run that sure looked like a 1st down, and later challenging a play that theoretically keeps the clock running, but not when the clock is stopped FOR the review.

Some ref bullshit also didn't help. Hunter absurdly was called for hands to the face on a play where he had HIS helmet ripped off. A Cam Bynum pick was overturned that sure looked good to me, and a questionable at best holding call on Brian O'Neill wiped out a long Chandler TD.

But Brian Flores's defense continued their strong play and held on. Four times the Saints had possession down 1 score in the 4th quarter. The results were: punt, Mehki Blackmon pick, Byron Murphy pick, and an incomplete hail mary.

The messy back half of this game doesn't erase the dazzling first. The Vikings have now won 5 straight games, all without Justin Jefferson, and are now 2-0 without Cousins too. The injuries don't stop (Hicks and Mattison were this week's big injuries) but the team keeps winning.

A blossoming QB like Dobbs can cover for a lot of holes. I'm all in. I hate that Dobbs success has emboldened the Kirk haters to now pretend like he was holding the team back. Not even close. But Dobbs does offer a new look and an ability to make plays with his legs that Kirk can't. But Dobbs still is working on his accuracy, and running QBs always feel like a ticking clock for an injury. 

I see the Case Keenum comparisons, but no, Dobbs is better than Keenum ever was. This ride is just getting started. The Vikings are firmly in a playoff spot right now, and might only need about 3 more wins to get in. The division still feels like a longshot cause teams keep gagging to the Lions, but the Vikings are setting up to be a very tough out in January.