ATLANTA — Josh Dobbs traded his newly minted Vikings jersey for a Superman cape on Sunday afternoon at Mercedes Benz Stadium.
The stage was set for the 28-year-old journeyman quarterback less than a week after the Vikings acquired him at the trade deadline. He got the ball back with 2 minutes, 8 seconds left on the clock, needing a touchdown to win the game. What followed as an 11-play, 75-yard drive that could end up defining this season.
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Though he admitted he’s still learning names in the Vikings locker room, Dobbs led a march that culminated with a touchdown pass to receiver Brandon Powell. That put the Vikings on top for good in a 31-28 victory over the Atlanta Falcons that fans will be telling their grandkids about in the future.
“What’s up, everybody?” he joked in his postgame press conference. “My name is Josh Dobbs. I’m the quarterback for Minnesota. I wanted to introduce myself to everybody.”
Not a bad first impression. In the end, Dobbs finished 20 of 30 passing for 158 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and 66 yards and another touchdown rushing. All in a game that he entered as the backup quarterback not expecting to play in his wildest dreams.
“I wouldn’t discount Josh Dobbs and his ability to come in here and do something that I don’t think many quarterbacks in our league could do,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “We asked a lot of him.”
Indeed. No matter the situation, though, Dobbs showed he’s capable of responding.
Never mind that he had never heard O’Connell deliver plays in his helmet. Never mind that he had never taken a live snap from center Garrett Bradbury. Never mind he had never thrown a live pass to receiver Jordan Addison, tight end T.J. Hockenson, or anybody else on the team.
“There’s never an excuse for your circumstance,” Dobbs said while crediting Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin for instilling that piece of wisdom. “Usually, people don’t care about your circumstance, they just want to see you succeed in the circumstance you’re given.”
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That’s exactly what Dobbs did. After the Falcons went ahead 3-0 early in the game, the Vikings had something rolling as rookie quarterback Jaren Hall started to find a rhythm. He showed some swagger, and while he helped the Vikings tied the score 3-3, he absorbed a big hit in the process and was ruled out with a concussion.
In that moment, Dobbs immediately started taking snaps from Bradbury on the sideline, then gathered with entire offensive line to make sure everybody was on the same page.
“We huddled up on the sideline real quick and we were like, ‘Let’s go through our main cadences,'” right tackle Brian O’Neill said. “Then we were like, ‘Alright. That’s his cadence. Let’s roll.'”
It was nearly an impossible situation for Dobbs as he’s still in the process of learning the new playbook. It went about as poorly as expected for the Vikings in the immediate aftermath as the Falcons sacked Dobbs in the end zone for a safety to go ahead 5-3.
After the Falcons got another field goal from kicker Younghoe Koo to stretch the lead to 8-3, they forced a fumble with Dobbs scrambling out of the pocket. Though the game appeared to be on the verge of getting away from the Vikings, the defense stepped up, with the Falcons having to settle for yet another field goal to make it 11-3.
On the next possession, Dobbs started to get his bearings, leading the Vikings 75 yards for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 11-10 at halftime. That scoring drive was highlighted by Dobbs miraculously scrambling for a first down, then calmly throwing a touchdown to running back Alexander Mattison.
The fact that it didn’t feel like a pick up game in the backyard is a testament to the way Dobbs carries himself. He was clear and concise in the huddle despite having limited knowledge of the playbook as a whole. His teammates seemed to feed off of that as the game progressed.
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“He’s played in the league for a while,” Powell said. “He’s got experience so he was calm in there. He was out there making plays for us. He told us to get open and he’d get us the ball.”
After the teams traded field goals after halftime to make it 14-13, the Falcons got the big play they were looking for when quarterback Taylor Heinicke threw a screen pass to tight end Jonnu Smith. Thanks to some solid blocking in front of him, Smith went 60 yards for a touchdown as the Falcons stretched their lead to 21-13.
It felt like the defense was going to need to make a big play for the Vikings to have a chance. It made a couple.
It started with a forced fumble by cornerback Akayleb Evans, which set up an 18-yard touchdown run by Dobbs that tied the score 21-21. It continued with an interception from cornerback Byron Murphy, which set up a 31-yard field goal from kicker Greg Joseph to push the Vikings in front 24-21.
As good as the Vikings were on defense throughout the game, they appeared to tire down the stretch, and the Falcons made them pay with running back Tyler Allgeier finding pay dirt to make it 28-24.
That set the stage for Dobbs, and he delivered, putting the finishing touches on a game for the ages with a touchdown pass in the final minute.
“He pretty much got thrown into the fire,” Addison said. “He did his thing.”
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Asked what he was feeling when the Vikings officially secured the win, Dobbs replied, “Relief.” He talked a little bit about his journey this week, then thought of another word, replying, “Excitement.”
“I’m excited to see how we build off this,” Dobbs said. “We’ve got a home game next week in Minnesota.”
And a new quarterback leading the charge.
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