Joshua Dobbs and the Vikings’ resilient ways keep their playoff hopes alive

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face,” former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson said.

This is my favorite quote of all time. In life, things don’t always go as planned. You might have an impeccable plan, thinking you’ve accounted for every possible situation, and yet life always seems to throw something your way.

Enter a torn Achilles.

Yes, I’m referring to the Minnesota Vikings. On Oct. 29, late in their 24-10 win over the Green Bay Packers, Pro Bowl quarterback Kirk Cousins dropped back to pass, and at the top of his drop, his right calf rippled and he collapsed. Cousins left the game, and the next day an MRI confirmed he had torn his right Achilles tendon, ending his 2023-24 season abruptly.

This seemed to be a crushing blow for the Vikings. At the time of the injury, Cousins was second in the NFL in passing yards and tied for first in passing touchdowns. Despite a three-game winning streak, their season suddenly looked doomed without a clear succession plan at quarterback.

This all comes just four weeks after they lost star wide receiver Justin Jefferson to a hamstring injury that has sidelined him since then.

Behind Cousins, who had not missed a game due to injury since being drafted in 2012, the Vikings had fifth-round draft pick Jaren Hall, who was a rookie and had never played a snap in the NFL until Cousins’ injury. They had Nick Mullens, who had made 17 career starts but mostly had served as a backup and was ineligible to come off injured reserve until Nov. 12. They also had Sean Mannion, who was on their practice squad and had thrown one touchdown in the NFL despite being drafted in 2015.

The one silver lining to this injury was the timing of it. The injury came roughly 48 hours before the NFL’s trade deadline of Oct. 31.

Around 1 p.m. on Oct. 31, two hours before the deadline, the Arizona Cardinals traded quarterback Josh Dobbs to the Vikings.

Before the trade, Dobbs had made 10 NFL starts, eight of which had come this year. Dobbs had led the Cardinals to a measly 1-7 record while ranking 21st in the league in both passing yards and passing touchdowns.

After the trade, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell announced that Hall would be starting the upcoming game against the Atlanta Falcons. This move made sense, as Dobbs would only have five days to learn the Vikings’ entire playbook before the game. NFL playbooks can be incredibly complex, and it is unheard of to come into a new system in five days and play.

But Dobbs is no ordinary quarterback. Dobbs graduated from the University of Tennessee with a 4.0 GPA as an Aerospace Engineering major. In other words, he’s a rocket scientist.

Dobbs is incredibly smart and was already traded in August, so learning a new playbook is familiar to him. If anyone can learn a playbook in a short amount of time before a game, he can.

As Hall was set to make his first career start, Dobbs stayed ready and did as much as he could to learn the playbook. But once again, the Vikings faced some adversity.

On Hall’s second drive, he dove for the end zone and came up just short. On his dive, a Falcons player delivered a blow to his helmet, giving him a concussion.

Dobbs was the next quarterback in line. He began warming up on the sideline, taking snaps from center Garrett Bradbury for the first time. He had never thrown to Vikings starting wide receivers Jordan Addison, KJ Osborn and Brandon Powell — even in practice — until he entered the game.

Dobbs entered the game, and his first drive resulted in a safety and two points for the Falcons. His second drive couldn’t have gone any worse, but then he fumbled, leading to a field goal and three more points for the Falcons.

The Dobbs era was not off to a great start. He got proverbially punched in the face twice. He responded. His third drive he led a 13-play drive down the field before halftime, resulting in a two-yard passing touchdown thrown to Alexander Mattison. The Vikings were within one point of the lead going into halftime.

To start the second half, Dobbs fumbled again, leading to another field goal for the Falcons.

Late in the third quarter, Dobbs scored an 18-yard touchdown and completed a two-point conversion to tie the game. His next drive early in the fourth quarter resulted in a field goal to give the Vikings a 24-21 lead.

After the two teams traded punts, the Falcons went on a seven-minute touchdown drive, taking the lead 28-24 with 2:08 left to play. The Vikings needed a touchdown to win the game.

Dobbs pioneered a game-winning drive for the Vikings, which was capped off by a touchdown to Powell with 22 seconds left in the game. This drive included two third-down conversions and a fourth-down scramble for 22 yards, escaping sacks and keeping the Vikings’ hopes alive.

Dobbs said the touchdown play to Powell was the first time he had ever run that specific play before. This level of comfort can be traced back to Dobbs’ intelligence and ability to pick up on new concepts, as well as O’Connell’s ability to work with quarterbacks and get every ounce of talent he can out of them.

To have a quarterback respond to adversity this frequently in one game would be a great story. To have that quarterback be the backup coming in after a catastrophic injury to a very good quarterback like Cousins to do it? That would be even better. But a guy who joined the team just five days before playing, and not only playing but thriving? What a story.

The Minnesota Vikings’ ability to come back from a 1-4 start and win three games in a row before suffering an emotional loss of Cousins for the season, as well as win a crazy back-and-forth game just seven days later with a brand-new quarterback, speaks to the team’s fortitude, coaching and leadership.

It’s not how many times you get knocked down; it’s how many times you can get back up. The 2023 Vikings have been knocked down countless times halfway through the season and have consistently responded to it. They have shown resilience and proven that they can play with anyone and have what it takes to make a run toward the playoffs.