Josh Dobbs Falls Back to Earth; Vikings Beat Themselves vs Broncos

Nothing about the Minnesota Vikings 5-game winning streak has been perfect. They lost a superstar wide receiver, an elite quarterback and, at times, their play has reflected as much. Yet, they found ways to victory.

Minnesota Vikings defense can’t overcome turnovers on offense

But that wasn’t the story on Sunday Night Football vs the Denver Broncos. Instead, a great defensive effort was wasted thanks to three turnovers by the offense. Brian Flores and the Vikings defense kept Russell Wilson & Co from paydirt the first five times they crossed into scoring position. But that sixth time is a bitch.

ALL RISE.

📺: NBC pic.twitter.com/AYby1pl8Nr

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) November 20, 2023

The Vikings offense looked better in the first half than it did the second, yet again. But this week, the defense couldn’t overcome the turnovers.

It was Alexander Mattison’s fumble early in the 4th quarter, with the Vikings up 17-9, that really flipped this contest on its head. The defense held up, and held Denver to another yet another field goal, but the game never felt the same after that.

Related: How Much Will Kirk Cousins Cost; Could Vikings Get Discount?

Josh Dobbs falls back to earth

Josh Dobbs played pretty well, going 20/32 for 221 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT, but the 28-year-old journeyman QB continues to show more and more vulnerabilities, the more snaps he takes. I’d imagine Cardinals fans know what I mean.

Still, he gave the Minnesota Vikings a chance to win, which is all you can ask from a backup quarterback. But, he was responsible for two of the three Vikings turnovers. Fans and football talking heads have mentioned Dobbs’ running ability as a positive over Kirk Cousins. We saw Sunday night that is not always the case.

KAREEM JACKSON LIT UP JOSH DOBBS 🤯 pic.twitter.com/uijgMmeli7

— NFL Retweet (@NFLRT) November 20, 2023

At the end of the day, an elite QB makes up for a lot of deficiencies on both sides of the ball. If the Minnesota Vikings want to be a playoff team without Kirk, they will need to play much better team football than what we saw vs the Broncos, starting with taking care of the football, which they’ve struggled with all season.