Another week, another decision to make when it comes to who quarterbacks the Minnesota Vikings in the upcoming game.
Josh Dobbs was benched a few weeks ago for Nick Mullens, who's led the team to back-to-back 24-point outings, but has also thrown six interceptions in the process. They aren't dropped passes that happen to land in a defender's hand, either. The majority of them have been the result of poor decision-making and there easily could have been more if defenders weren't, well, defenders and could catch the ball on a consistent basis.
"I will say, looking back on the individual stories of these turnovers over the last two games, they do come down to decision-making," Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell told reporters on Tuesday. "They don't come down to the play intent. And ultimately, making the right decisions in the moment to find the open man and convert when we get those critical third down opportunities that will lead to us having more time of possession [and] more opportunities to score."
O'Connell has made it clear that turnovers are the quickest way to ride the bench, evidenced by what happened with Dobbs. So, naturally, the question becomes one of whether or not Mullens suffers the same fate.
He was asked about the plan at quarterback for Week 17's matchup against the Green Bay Packers and sure enough, everything is on the table.
"We're working through that right now," said O'Connell. "Making sure that we go through a full evaluation process of the Lions game, of course, but going back to the Bengals game, and taking a look at the inventory of really both of his [Mullens'] starts...
"... We've had some turnovers, there's no doubt about it. And the interceptions have kind of been the story -for much of the year since we lost Kirk at that position. And we're trying to work through what we feel gives us the best chance to still be explosive."
Vikings will name a starter, soon
And all three guys have a chance to start against the Packers.
"Part of these conversations are, we've got three quarterbacks on our roster right now. So we're really having a discussion and really taking a look at the evidence of what we think leads to the best decision that we can make for this week," said O'Connell. "And all three of those guys are worthy [of] being involved in that discussion. And we'll make the best decision moving forward that we think, you know, in the best interest of us winning games."
It makes sense to go ahead and name a starter as soon as possible, simply to get as much cohesiveness brewing as possible. Especially if it's a newer guy, like rookie Jaren Hall.
"I think it's important just for to maximize our preparation for not only that player, that gets the nod, but also for whoever is going to be the number two," said O'Connell. "... Because that's the way this season has gone. We absolutely need to prepare for not only who's gonna be the starter, we need to prepare for who would be the next man up; who would be that true emergency number three, and make sure we're preparing all those guys accordingly, not knowing how Sunday will go.
"But I also think it's important for the other guys in the huddle to know and get reps with that guy, hear that voice in the huddle, hear him at the line of scrimmage with his cadence, going through audibles going through checks, all of those things."
At the same time, however, it'd be best to try and keep it in the building, as much as possible. There is certainly an advantage in making an opposing team prepare for two, or even three, different guys leading up to a game.
Packers defense not in a good spot
Whomever starts at quarterback will have a very good opportunity to not only lead the Vikings to a win, but put up some good numbers in the process.
The Packers defense has fallen apart over the last three weeks, with things hitting a head against the Carolina Panthers in Week 16. Joe Barry's unit gave up 30 points to a pitiful Panthers offense and it almost cost Green Bay a win.
Even with the injuries to Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson, the Vikings offense should be able to move the ball and score points on Sunday.
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