The Passtronaut Is Aware of the 2 Major Problems
The initial Joshua Dobbs fairytale is over, or at least on pause after the first loss since starting quarterback Kirk Cousins suffered his season-ending Achilles injury. Dobbs was acquired, and the aerospace engineer hit like an asteroid at first, completely demolishing everything in his way on his way to back-to-back victories with a bunch of exciting plays.
The Passtronaut Is Aware of the 2 Major Problems
In the loss against Sean Payton’s Denver Broncos, Dobbs once again made some magic happen. His specialty is producing highlight plays, especially when the initial play breaks down. His latest piece of sorcery was an improvised passing touchdown that the TV crew compared to a play from Patrick Mahomes.
However, he also made some mistakes in crucial moments. A couple of turnovers and a disastrous potential game-winning drive can be partly attributed to the starting quarterback, and they played a significant role in his first defeat since leaving the Cardinals.
The good news is that he is fully aware of the blunders. During his media availability on Wednesday, he talked about the issues.
You evaluate, you take the good as good but you also circle those three important plays that ultimately changed the game, where they scored nine points off turnovers I believe, and ultimately it was a one-point game. So if you turn it over twice, just doing the simple math, you win the game by that perspective and if you don’t turn it over at all, obviously it is a completely different ball game.
Even with that being said, we know that after all those turnovers, after all those plays, we had the ball first and ten at their ten-yard line with a touchdown that seals the game and that’s the situation we want to be in as an offense and when we get in that situation, it’s better execution to put the ball in the endzone to close out the game, especially on the road versus a good opponent. There are learning opportunities but there are a lot of positives to build upon and that’s what we’re taking from the film last week and we’re on to the next opportunity.
Joshua Dobbs
Turnovers have played a huge role in the five losses; the turnover differential is a total of -11. The Vikings have struggled to hang on to the football, and Dobbs’ tendency to fumble added to that dynamic.
The passer mentioned a sequence of plays where the Vikings marched down the field in the fourth quarter. They had a two-point lead, and a touchdown had likely decided the game. Receiving the ball with over ten minutes left on the clock, the Vikes managed to go on a long drive, taking over seven minutes off the clock but eventually settling for a field goal to keep the door open for Denver’s game-winning drive.
With four minutes and 48 seconds left to play, the Vikings had a first down at the 12-yard line. Alexander Mattison and Ty Chandler each rushed for no gain, followed by an incomplete pass from Dobbs on third-and-ten. Instead of going for the touchdown, O’Connell opted to keep the ball on the ground for two plays to take more time off the clock.
That strategy backfired, and a more aggressive effort might have been the better approach. Of course, had the strategy worked, nobody would call it a wrong strategy. He trusted his defense to make the necessary plays, but they couldn’t keep the Broncos out of the endzone.
Limiting turnovers and increasing the efficiency on crucial drives, like the previously mentioned or the attempted game-winning drive in the final minute, are two points of emphasis for the Vikings entering their Week 12 contest versus the Chicago Bears.
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and Classic rock is his music genre of choice. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt
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