Vikings Hold on For 27-19 Win Over Saints in Josh Dobbs' U.S. Bank Stadium Debut
The winning streak has reached five.
Josh Dobbs went supernova in the first half and the Vikings, who never make things easy, held off the Saints' comeback attempt in a 27-19 victory. They're now 6-4 and have somehow won all five of their games without Justin Jefferson.
The first turnover of the day for Brian Flores' defense was the first career interception by rookie cornerback Mekhi Blackmon, getting the Vikings the ball back with just over three minutes left in a one-score game. The Vikings' offense — which completely disappeared in the second half — gave the Saints the ball right back, but the defense came up with another interception a few plays later when Byron Murphy Jr. picked off Jameis Winston.
The Saints got the ball one last time with 15 seconds left, but Winston's Hail Mary fell incomplete after the final seconds ticked off the clock.
This game was a tale of two halves for the Vikings. They were unbelievably good in the first half, with Dobbs lighting things up in front of his new home crowd. But after the break, it felt like they were playing not to lose. Kevin O'Connell's play-calling, which was stellar in the first half, became conservative and predictable in the second as the Vikings managed just 90 yards of offense.
In the end, the Vikings' defense came up clutch and got the job done, but O'Connell's team has a lot to learn from how it played after halftime.
It's hard to overstate how impressive the Vikings' offensive execution was in the first half. They racked up 297 yards, 17 first downs, and 24 points in the opening 30 minutes against a defense that ranked in the top ten in the league in most of the major statistics coming into this game. At 24-3, it was Minnesota's biggest halftime lead since they were up 23-0 against the Steelers in 2021 (another lead that was nearly blown).
It all revolved around Dobbs, who had 220 passing yards and 40 rushing yards before the break. After Ty Chandler scored the game's first touchdown — and his first NFL TD — on a direct snap, Dobbs scrambled for a highly-impressive score and then found T.J. Hockenson up the seam for a 28-yard TD shortly before halftime. In his first Vikings start, he put together an entire highlight reel full of big plays in the first half alone.
Dobbs' primary target was Hockenson, who became the first tight end in NFL history to have 10 catches, at least 125 yards, and a touchdown within one half of a game. Jordan Addison and Chandler were also factors in the Vikings' new-look offense before the break. Alexander Mattison left the game with a concussion in the second half.
Defensively, the Vikings played fairly well. They held the Saints to just three points in the first half, but Murphy was beaten on contested catches for two touchdowns after Winston replaced Carr in the third quarter. The Vikings finished with three sacks, including the 11th of the season for Danielle Hunter, and recorded the two late interceptions.
The story of this game, at least before the Saints wound up making it interesting, was how well the Vikings' offense played in the first half. The combination of Kevin O'Connell calling plays and Dobbs' dual-threat magic made for one of the most fun halves of football Minnesota fans have witnessed in a long time.
It didn't last after halftime, but all that matters is the Vikings won the game.
They're now 6-4 as they head to Denver next weekend for a primetime matchup with the Broncos.
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