Getty Vikings quarterback Josh Dobbs after an improbably 31-28 victory over the Falcons on November 5, 2023.
For just the second time in his five years with the Minnesota Vikings, Kirk Cousins watched the game from his living room.
Rehabbing from a torn Achilles he suffered a week ago, Cousins received a wellspring of support throughout the week. On Sunday, his teammates wore t-shirts to pay homage to their captain — a gesture they followed with an improbable win over the Atlanta Falcons.
“You already know we had to support Kirko Chains.” – @JJettas2 💜💛
The Vikings fourth option at quarterback, Josh Dobbs, who arrived after the trade deadline on Wednesday, willed an offense missing Justin Jefferson, K.J. Osborn, Christian Darrisaw and Cam Akers to a 31-28 comeback on Sunday.
“What a win, love the grit,” Cousins posted on his Instagram story.
His wife, Julie, echoed her excitement from Sunday’s win for Dobbs, who grew up near her in the Atlanta metro area.
“Studs! Dobbs went to one of my rival high schools,” Julie wrote. “How fun for him to get that W in (his) hometown. Let’s go!”
Warren Moon, Cris Carter, Vikings Legends Praise Josh Dobbs
GettyJosh Dobbs
Several Vikings greats praised Dobbs for his handling of being thrown into the game after Jaren Hall was placed in concussion protocol in the first quarter.
Warren Moon posted on X (formerly Twitter): “Very impressed with (Dobbs) leading Vikings to a comeback win over Atlanta after only being in Minn for 5 days. Amazing comprehension, and effort today! Proud of you!”
Dobbs shared the post with the fist bump emoji along with “#Respect” for the former Vikings quarterback.
“Mad respect for Josh Dobbs,” Cris Carter wrote. “What he did today is hard to understand, unless you’ve been in the NFL.”
Mad respect for Josh Dobbs , what he did today is hard to understand, unless you’ve been in the @NFL 💜
Jake Reed acknowledged the short turnaround Dobbs had to work with on Sunday, sharing a message of optimism in the coming weeks: “Great job Dobbs! We can build on that! #SKOL.”
Great job Dobbs! We can build on that! #SKOL
“So inspired by the fight of this Vikings team in the face of adversity,” Carl Eller wrote on X. “Dobbs is impressive!”
So inspired by the fight of this Vikings team in the face of adversity. Dobbs
is impressive!!!
Osborn, who was ruled out of Sunday’s game after taking a hit that landed him in concussion protocol, was waiting outside the locker room to greet his teammates after their victory.
Pretty cool. K.J. Osborn, who left because of a concussion, was waiting for players outside the Vikings locker room. That’s him and Trishton Jackson.
Dobbs, having fun after his first win as a Viking, playfully introduced himself to the fan base just five days removed from the Arizona Cardinals trading him to the Vikings.
“I wanna introduce myself, I’m Josh Dobbs.”
Heck of an introduction to @Vikings fans, @josh_dobbs1 💜
Former Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph put it best now that the fan base has put a face to Dobbs: “They better get that Joshua Dobbs jersey over at the @Vikings Team Store!”
They better get that Joshua Dobbs jersey over at the @Vikings Team Store!
More Scenes From Josh Dobbs’ 1st Win With Vikings
What happened Sunday is a rarity in the NFL as few quarterbacks have ever played for two different teams on back-to-back weeks.
The acclimation period of learning a new offense, its verbiage, the calls and your teammates takes months if not years to fully master.
While Dobbs gets the most glory for his performance on Sunday, it was arguably one of the greatest team wins in recent memory.
The moment the team realized Dobbs would enter the game, the offensive line huddled around him and practiced their five cadences with him for the first time.
“Can’t give enough credit to a guy like Garrett Bradbury up there,” O’Connell said in his postgame news conference. “Just solidifying the poise, understanding that it’s not maybe going to sound the same you know some of the huddle calls might sound a little different. But Garrett, as I told him, ‘You’re my make it right man today,’ and he did it time and time again.”
This is video of said event on the sideline, going through the cadence with the line, before Dobbs goes into the game. Unreal.
“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 (including Brandon Powell, who caught the game-clinching touchdown),” ESPN’s Kevin Seifert said. “Didn’t even know most of their full names. ‘That’s for next week,’ (Dobbs) said.”
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.
Dobbs revealed after the game that O’Connell was translating the offensive play calls to him mid-huddle with the play clock running down.
“KOC called Dobbs’ ability to handle it all one of the most impressive things he’d seen in his career,” The Athletic’s Alec Lewis reported.
Unbelievable. Josh Dobbs said that Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell was essentially translating calls and mapping out plays mid-huddle, as the play clock was ticking down. KOC called Dobbs’ ability to handle it all one of the most impressive things he’d seen in his career.
The stories will continue to trickle out of the Vikings organization this week in a win where everybody deserved a game ball.
“Don’t know if I’ve been a part of one like that,” O’Connell said. “There’s so much about it when you think about all the things that you talk about every single day in your organization. That people matter. That culture matters. That building the type of football team we want to have, you know what’s inside of each and every guy in that locker room and the feelings they have towards one another. These are the days that kind of cement why you believe what you believe as a coach and, quite honestly, I’ll remember this one for a really long time.”