THE JOSHUA DOBBS GAME

VIKINGS 31

FALCONS 28

Joshua Dobbs's 1st 2 series as a Minnesota Viking on Sunday ended with a sack in the endzone for a safety, and an unforced fumble that was almost returned for a touchdown.

A couple hours later, Dobbs was a hero for engineering one of the most improbable wins in recent memory.

Dobbs, acquired from Arizona last Tuesday in the wake of the Kirk Cousins Achilles tear, was of course not even supposed to play yet. This was going to be Jaren Hall's big moment.

Hall lasted two series. The second was the solid one, as Hall led a nice drive, hitting a nice deep shot to Alexander Mattison (really) and a few more throws, before the 1st and goal problems struck again. And on a 3rd down scramble, Hall went for the endzone, was stopped short, and the back of his head hit the turf on the tackle. Hall had a concussion and his day was done.

On came Dobbs, and pinned deep on his 1st series things got ugly fast, with Dobbs taken down for the safety. 

After the free kick, Atlanta added a field goal for an 8-3 lead. Then just a few plays into the next series, Dobbs escaped the pocket but then the ball sort of slipped out of his hand. The Falcons picked the ball up and took it down to the 1. Admirably, the Vikings defense put together a goal line stand to force just a field goal, and a 11-3 score in a game that felt way more lopsided already.

The defense was keeping this a game, and finally the Vikings began to produce positivity on offense. Dobbs found Jordan Addison for a big gain on 3rd down. Then he had a fantastic scramble away from pressure on another 3rd down that he turned into a 1st down run. And then he hit Mattison for a short touchdown, and somehow a half that could not have been much worse ended with the Vikings just down a single point.

Dobbs had another turnover to start the 2nd half, on a strip sack, but also again the Vikings defense limited the fallout to just a field goal. 

And the offense found a groove again next series, with 3 straight 1st down plays (the best a big YAC catch by TJ Hockenson) setting up a Greg Joseph field goal to cut it back to 1. 

The Vikings were hanging around, but a backbreaker seemed to arrive on the next series when a simple screen from Taylor Heinicke to Jonnu Smith became a 60 yard touchdown. 

When the Vikings had to quickly punt on the next series things were starting to look pretty bleak, but on the 1st Falcons play after the punt, Akayleb Evans punched the ball loose from Bijan Robinson and the Vikings recovered. Six plays later, Dobbs again got loose on a scramble down the right sideline and took it all the way. He hit Trishton Jackson for the 2 and the game was tied.

The Falcons turned it over for the 2nd straight play, when Heinicke misfired downfield and Byron Murphy picked it off. The Vikings offense quickly stalled, but Joseph hit the go ahead field goal.

The teams traded punts, but then the Falcons had one of those drives that sucks the life out of you. A 13 play, 78 yard drive, almost entirely on the ground, which consumed half the quarter. It was sad to see the defense wilt like this with the game at stake, although they were the reason the game remained winnable to begin with. Atlanta punched it in with just over 2 minutes left to take a 4 point lead. 

We had time. We had timeouts. But could you possibly hope a QB who has been here 4 days and hasn't had any 1st team reps to execute a 2 minute drill? 

Yeah. 

First Dobbs hit Addison on a brilliant sideline toe-tapper that would make Cris Carter proud. Then on 4th and 7 Dobbs had his best scramble of all, breaking free of a sack, then outrunning everyone not just for the 1st down, but for another 15 yards after that. 3 plays later, Dobbs found Brandon Powell open for the touchdown that won the game. 

What took place here would have been impressive even for an established QB. But again, Dobbs was acquired Tuesday. A week ago today he was starting for Arizona. And now here he was not only leading a game winning drive on the road against a good defense, but doing so incredibly shorthanded. No Justin Jefferson. No Christian Darrisaw. KJ Osborn was lost to a concussion. Cam Akers was lost for the season to an Achilles injury.

Time will tell if this game tells the future or if it is the new "Joe Webb on Tuesday night in Philly" game. But I was into the Dobbs trade cause of how he has quickly stepped onto new teams and acquitted himself well. He spent the last 2 months keeping a deliberately tanking Arizona competitive in most games.

Now in one memorable Sunday he has helped take what seemed to be a season drained of optimism and injected it with a bunch of it. Imagine what he could do once he knows the playback?