Minnesota Vikings Quarterback Josh Dobbs Didn’t Know His Wide Receiver’s Names During Comeback Win

Getty Image / Kevin C. Cox

It’s been a whirlwind week for former Arizona Cardinals quarterback Josh Dobbs. And, the now-Minnesota Vikings had a storybook finish to his week, entering the game in relief and leading the Vikings to a crucial comeback victory against the Falcons, 31-28.

Dobbs had been the fill-in starter for Kyler Murray in Arizona this season while Murray recovered from the torn ACL he suffered last December. And, despite the team being 1-7 in his starts, Dobbs had filled in admirably.

He had 1,569 yards and 8 touchdowns to go against 5 interceptions in Arizona, very respectable considering the terrible state of the roster.

After the Vikings lost Kirk Cousins to a season-ending Achilles injury last week, they needed to make a move at quarterback with the team at 4-4 and very much still in the playoff hunt. With Kyler Murray close to coming back, and the Cardinals not particularly trying to win games anyway, the Cardinals offloaded him to the Vikings, getting a 6th round pick back and sending a 7th rounder to the Vikings.

Still, the trade was on Tuesday, giving Dobbs very little practice time this week. In fact, heading into Sunday’s game, he had never even taken a snap from starting center Garrett Bradbury. With this little experience learning the scheme, the Vikings decided to start rookie backup Jaren Hall.

Hall left with injury in the first quarter, thrusting Dobbs into action. Despite knowing limited amounts of the playbook and not even knowing some of the names of his offensive teammates, Josh Dobbs played well. He went 20/30 for 158 yards and two touchdowns, and added 7 carries for 66 yards and a touchdown on the ground. But, his impact goes beyond the box score.

Dobbs led the team on an incredible drive in the two-minute drill. With the Vikings needing a touchdown, they went 75 yards in 11 plays, and Dobbs found stud Brandon Powell for the game-winning touchdown.

What a great story, and it puts the Vikings above .500 for the first time this year at 5-4. After the game, Dobbs spoke about not knowing his teammates or much of the playbook. The following is courtesy of ESPN’s Kevin Seifert.

Incredible stories from the Vikings’ locker room today. Josh Dobbs didn’t take a single rep with the offense in practice. No snaps from Garrett Bradbury. Had never thrown passes to anyone, and didn’t know most of their full names. “That’s for next week,” he said.

“When it was time for Josh Dobbs to come into the game, the Vikings’ offense huddled on the sideline and went through the team’s 5 primary cadences, said RT Brian O’Neill. That was the first time he had gone through it with the rest of the offense,” Seifert also reported.

Josh Dobbs will have a busty week of practice coming up to prepare for the Saints. But, he should at least know his teammates’ names by next week. In the meantime, we have one of our feel-good stories of the year.