Vikings not declaring Nick Mullens the starting QB just yet

Josh Dobbs was benched and Nick Mullens led the Vikings to the only score of the game in Vegas.

Author:
Joe Nelson
Publish date:
Dec 10, 2023 10:17 PM EST

Sixty-seven passing yards and a 43.4% completion rate led Josh Dobbs to the bench Sunday in Las Vegas, but he hasn't been ruled out of the running for the starting job Saturday in Cincinnati.

At least not publicly.

Kevin O'Connell spoke glowingly of the job Nick Mullens did under center, his backup quarterback completing 9-of-13 passes for 83 yards in the fourth quarter of a punt fest that not even the Raiders' $1.9 billion stadium could make look good.

"Did decide there in the second half that maybe Nick would provide us, not only with a spark but just know that we would probably have to have three or four third-down conversions. Felt like my trust in Nick, with his preparation, he could be called upon," O'Connell explained after the win. "We got him some reps last week to make sure that he was ready to go and he did exactly that, went in and made some critical-critical plays to move some chains and ultimately get us in range for the very limited amount of points that we got today offensively, but enough to win the football game."

Mullens produced more offense in two drives than Dobbs did in eight. Still, O'Connell isn't awarding Mullens the start when the Vikings play the Bengals in Cincinnati at noon Saturday.

"We'll take a look at it. Don't want to get into declaring anything for next week right now," O'Connell said. "With the type of injuries and the way it's been on offense this season, we're a week-to-week offense at this point. We're going to find out who we're going to have available, figure out the best possible plan we can put together against a really good team at their place and we'll let you guys know as the week goes on."

O'Connell took it easy on Dobbs in his postgame comments, putting some of the blame on others who dropped passes (Hello, K.J. Osborn) or didn't come through when needed.

"I credit [Dobbs] for coming out and giving our offense some chances in the first half. There's probably plenty of guys in there, thinking back on a few plays, that would tell you that they could make that play when given the opportunity. And then just as the game went on, just a couple plays here and there that probably Josh would love to have back," O'Connell said.

"He got us an early first down there with his legs and then it kind of dried up from there. It's difficult. I always want to communicate and be honest and I just said, at this point in time I want to give Nick a chance to get in there. Nick's got a great feel for our offense. When I was able to call it for him and kind of communicate with him a little bit, he went out there and executed."

The Vikings punted nine times. Only two drives didn't end in a punt, one when Greg Joseph missed a 49-yard field goal in the first half and the other when Joseph booted the winning kick with 1:57 left in the game.

Dobbs averaged 2.7 yards per attempt. He threw for just 20 more yards than he lost via five sacks. And he posted his second straight sub-20 QBR.

ESPN's QBR, a measurement to quantify a player's value in a game, suggests that a score of 50 is average and 75 or higher is elite. A QBR of 25 is considered a replacement-level performance. Dobbs' QBR against the Bears and Raiders were 19.5 and 17.7, respectively.