Heading into the offseason, the biggest discussion surrounding the Vikings was whether they should bring back Sam Darnold. All that was put to rest on Monday when Darnold signed a three-year, $110.5 million deal with the Seahawks. After trading Geno Smith to the Raiders, Seattle found their new QB.

Vikings safety Camryn Bynum also signed a new deal. The Colts nabbed him for four years at $60 million to beef up their secondary. Bynum was drafted by the Vikings in the fourth round in 2021, and by 2022 he was a full-time starting safety. He tied for second on the team with three interceptions last season.

Minnesota Vikings backup QB signs with Jaguars

With the potential re-signing of Daniel Jones on the table, Nick Mullens has taken a deal with Jacksonville. The almost 30-year-old QB signed a two-year, $6.5 million contract with $3 million guaranteed. He will now back up Trevor Lawrence under new offensive coordinator Grant Udinski, who Mullens followed from Minnesota.

Jacksonville is another step in a long journey for Nick Mullens’ career. After going undrafted in 2017, he signed with the 49ers’ practice squad and spent his whole rookie season there. He became the third-string QB in 2018, getting his chance to start for the back half of the season after injuries to Jimmy Garoppolo and C.J. Beathard. He also started eight games for the Niners in 2020, going 2-6 with 12 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

Related: Minnesota Vikings Free Agency Signings – 2025

Mullens then spent a year in Cleveland before signing with the Minnesota Vikings in 2022. In three seasons, he appeared in 13 games with an 0-3 record as a starter, throwing eight touchdowns and nine picks. He’s spent his entire career as a backup and will be first in line behind Lawrence.

Jaguars nab another Viking

Former Vikings tight end Johnny Mundt also got himself paid on Monday. He signed a two-year, $5.5 million deal with the Jaguars, following Mullens and Udinski to the AFC. The Jaguars released starting TE Evan Engram a couple days ago, opening up an opportunity for Mundt to get increased playing time.

Like Mullens, Johnny Mundt went undrafted in 2017 and signed with the Rams, jumping between the active roster and practice squad. He spent five years in LA before coming to Minnesota in 2022, where he was the starter before T.J. Hockenson was traded from Detroit. He caught 19 passes for 140 yards and a touchdown.

Related: Top DL Free Agent Visiting Minnesota Vikings

In the ensuing two years, Mundt started just three games but appeared in all of them. He totaled 36 catches for 314 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 8.7 yards per reception. His numbers weren’t eye-popping, but he is known for his blocking prowess going back to his days as a Ram. Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell even called him the best TE3 in the league.

Vikings LB cashes in on career season

Vikings linebacker and defensive end Patrick Jones II is also cashing in after the best year of his young career. He agreed to a two-year deal worth up to $20 million with the Panthers after racking up a career-high seven sacks and one forced fumble. Jones has spent all four years of his career with the Minnesota Vikings, but has only started in five games.

A third-round pick in 2021, Patrick Jones II is likely looking for a spot where he can start consistently. With both Andrew Van Ginkel and Jonathan Greenard coming back for Minnesota, there was little room for Jones to become a starter. He will now be a part of a rejuvenated Panthers defense that signed Tre’von Moehrig and re-signed Jaycee Horn.

This offseason, prior to drafting J.J. McCarthy, the Vikings brought in veteran signal caller Sam Darnold. He too is a former first round pick, and while things didn’t work out with the New York Jets or Carolina Panthers, there are reasons to believe his time in San Francisco with Kyle Shanahan put him back on the right track.

That Kevin O’Connell can help continue that upward trajectory in Minnesota. Entering minicamp in a couple weeks, and then eventually training camp later this summer, Darnold will get the QB1 to beat.

JJ McCarthy is the Minnesota Vikings QB3?

Of course, there are paths that lead to McCarthy starting games in 2024, but many of them include poor performances from Sam Darnold. More than likely, if the Vikings’ 26-year-old 1st round pick plays well, then their 21-year-old 1st round pick will be wearing a headset, not a helmet, most of the season.

In fact, JJ McCarthy still has to climb past current QB2, Nick Mullins, before he can even think about overthrowing QB1. And according to Will Ragatz (Sports Illustrated) that’s hardly a guarantee to happen.

If McCarthy isn’t starter material by week one, Ragatz writes, it’s very plausible the Vikings end up carrying three quarterbacks into the season so they can relegate JJ to QB3 duties.

McCarthy was primarily working as the QB3 behind veterans Sam Darnold and Nick Mullens. When the team split up for parts of the day, it was Darnold and Mullens rotating with the starters and McCarthy and Jaren Hall working with the young players and backups.

There were several reps where you could see him going through his progressions, hesitating a bit, and then scrambling or throwing to his checkdown option. He’s clearly still working on getting the rhythm and timing down within Kevin O’Connell’s offense. McCarthy also dropped a shotgun snap for a fumble at one point and had a few inaccurate misses.

Will Ragatz describing his observations of JJ McCarthy at Vikings voluntary OTAs this week (SI)

Related: Did the Vikings Tip Their Hand on Which UDFAs Will Make the Roster?

The plan for McCarthy was to seemingly always give him some room to grow. Both Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell need their quarterback to work, or they will be looking for new jobs in a couple of years. The most straightforward way for him to develop is by being given some time to sit and learn.

Some JJ McCarthy content for your timeline. pic.twitter.com/lMrlbwIYlQ

— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) May 12, 2024

It is somewhat interesting that Nick Mullens would remain the backup as opposed to McCarthy, but if they determine he isn’t ready to see the field, it does make sense to make sure he isn’t one play away from setting back his development by inserting him under center too soon.

If [JJ McCarthy] doesn’t beat out Darnold, prove he’s ready, and win the Week 1 starting job, he might remain the QB3 to start the regular season so he isn’t an injury away from being thrust into action.

Will Ragatz – SI

Pushing McCarthy down to QB3 would almost certainly suggest that Jaren Hall isn’t long for the Vikings roster. If Minnesota were going to keep their 2023 5th round draft pick, there’s no way McCarthy would slot in behind him. And the Vikings aren’t going to carry four QBs on roster.

Mullens looked rough in limited action last season, but if he’s kept off the field and only used in emergency situations, then there may be a better form of value.

Related: Will Justin Jefferson Show Up For Any Minnesota Vikings Offseason Workouts?

With how the roster currently sits, it stands to reason that McCarthy will either be atop the depth chart or buried by it. Eventually this team will be his, but it may not happen to start the year, and that shouldn’t be considered a bad thing.

Related: LIVE: Vikings Week 18 Rooting Guide for Best Possible Draft Pick

Minnesota Vikings lose to Lions, miss playoffs

For one half of football, you had to wonder if the Vikings had mailed it in, especially the offense, which scored just six points in the first two quarters, leaving Justin Jefferson visibly upset after one failed drive.

Justin Jefferson is visibly frustrated on the Vikings sideline pic.twitter.com/Ees9vrVdpZ

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 7, 2024

But that all changed in the 2nd half, after the Lions took a 20-6 lead early in the 3rd quarter. Just when you thought the purple and gold would tap out and let their minds start wandering into the offseason, the Minnesota offense caught fire and scored two straight touchdowns, to bring the score within a touchdown, at 27-20.

Suddenly, Nick Mullens had 351 yards and two touchdowns, distributing passes to NINE different Vikings receivers, 10 of which went to Justin Jefferson for 178 yards and a touchdown. Suddenly, JJ’s first half frown was upside down.

Mullens finished with 396 yards and 2 touchdowns to go with 2 costly interceptions (just another day on the job). Jefferson piled up a total of 12 receptions for 192 yards by the time the game clock expired on Sunday’s contest and the Vikings’ season, meaning even after missing 9 games this year, Justin accomplished his 3rd straight 1,000 yard season, to start his career.

JUSTIN JEFFERSON ON FOURTH DOWN 💵 pic.twitter.com/dpL4kKrLHZ

— PFF (@PFF) January 7, 2024

Related: 2024 Minnesota Vikings Mock Draft Roundup

Nick Mullens gets emotional after Lions loss

The roller-coaster that was Sunday’s game is a pretty good metaphor for the Minnesota Vikings’ season. It got off to a slow start, caught some fire and ignited a little bit of hope, before quickly fizzling out into a game and season that nobody will remember down the road.

They lost 30-20, missed the playoffs and now face a ton of questions to answer this offseason. After the week 18 loss, Nick Mullens took to the postgame podium in Detroit and nearly broke down, when asked about said roller-coaster season.

I don't care how many INTs Nick Mullens throws, I'll take him as my backup QB any day of the goddamn week. #Vikings pic.twitter.com/C69IY6BQBR

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) January 7, 2024

“I’ll go back and watch the film tomorrow. Good or bad, I’m always proud of myself and so I’ll just keep going. Nick, can you put into words just the roller coaster ride this season has been? It’s been a long ride up and down. I love the Vikings. I love the team.. umm… just like what were we one of four.

One and three then went 5-0 And then obviously the stretch is like your starter goes down and you love to come in and say like us quarterbacks, whoever was back there, led the team to the playoffs and that’s what we hoped for. Didn’t get it done. Sorry, but it’s been fun. It’s been like I said, I love the Vikings.

It sucks. But it was it was fun season. You learn a lot. You go through a lot. It was cool. Where’s all the emotion coming from? I’m an emotional dude. Probably just sucks. You want to do your best, but it just sucks. Yeah, a lot of guys as part of the connectedness of this team, does that add another layer of emotion to this? Yeah, yeah. No doubt, no doubt.

Like I said, you just try to get the job done. We’re very close this year, but very close is not good enough in this league.”

Related: Vikings Tried Trading the Farm for Anthony Richardson During 2023 Draft

Nick Mullens is far from perfect, even as an NFL backup. But it’s guys like him and attitudes like this that, no matter how significant their role is, make a team better. I’d take this type of QB2 over a young guy with upside who doesn’t care about the team he plays for.

Of course, a young day 1st or 2nd rounder to backup Kirk Cousins next season would be ideal. But short of that, I’d sign up for another year of Nick Mullens as my backup for sure.

Josh Dobbs named Minnesota Vikings backup QB vs Lions

Not only will Nick Mullens get another opportunity as the starter but Kevin O’Connell announced on Friday that Josh Dobbs will return to the active roster as Mullens’ backup. Jaren Hall, who started for the Vikings last week, will move from the QB1 down to the emergency-only QB3.

What a season.

Head Coach Kevin O’Connell announces that Joshua Dobbs will serve as the backup to Nick Mullens on Sunday.

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) January 5, 2024

I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. After Josh Dobbs lost the starting job weeks ago, he was immediately demoted to QB3, as well. I guess, after seeing Hall last week, the Vikings have decided they’ll be better off in a pinch, going with the veteran Dobbs.

Not only that, but they’ve probably decided it’s better for Jaren Hall’s development that he not see the field again until next football season (probably longer).

Read all of our Minnesota Vikings articles

Head Coach Kevin O’Connell has announced that Nick Mullens will get the start Sunday in Detroit. pic.twitter.com/oOC2sEYTTf

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) January 3, 2024

Vikings going with best of poor options, Nick Mullens

After starting two games in a row for the Vikings in weeks 15 and 16, Nick Mullens was relieved by rookie Jaren Hall for exactly one half vs the Green Bay Packers. By then, KOC had realized he made a giant mistake by giving the 5th rounder a start on a stage that was too big for him, at this point in his development.

Related: Win or Lose, Vikings Can Land Top-10 Draft Pick

In two games as a starter, Nick has thrown 4 touchdowns and 6 interceptions, to go along with a whopping 714 yards through the air. He’s made plenty of boneheaded decisions and poor throws but there’s little doubt surrounding which quarterback the Vikings’ offense moves best under. It’s Mullens.

Related: Minnesota Vikings name rookie Jaren Hall starting QB for Sunday night

It may not be Hall’s first NFL start, but the stakes tonight are on another level compared to his very brief time as Vikings starter in week 9 vs the Falcons. That day in Atlanta, head coach Kevin O’Connell had no choice but to start his 5th round rookie, out of BYU.

They did not have another QB on roster who knew the playbook. Kirk Cousins’ real backup, Nick Mullens, was hurt. And their only other healthy quarterback was Josh Dobbs, who had just been acquired via trade a few days earlier.

Different reality for Jaren Hall in week 17

Back then, Jaren Hall was only supposed to be on roster to learn and get better at practice. He was a late-round stab in the dark 2023 draft pick with some upside. He was the emergency practice squad QB for the team whos starter was Ironman Kirk Cousins, who never gets hurt, remember?

In week 9 of the 2023 season, the last thing the Vikings expected was Jaren Hall as their QB1. Is it hypothetically possible that, had Jaren played out of his mind vs the Falcons and in the games that followed, O’Connell would’ve been forced to promote him, at least for the remainder of this season? Sure, anything is possible.

But in most realistic scenarios, Josh Dobbs was always going to get his chance at QB1. And even in a world where he doesn’t, Nick Mullens was eventually going to return from injury. No matter what had happened that day in Atlanta, Jaren Hall wasn’t going to have much of a chance to keep the starting job going forward.

On Sunday night, however, the 25-year-old Hall has a much different opportunity on his hands. Since Jaren left that contest in Atlanta, the Vikings have gone on a horrifyingly exciting roller-coaster ride without him.

Head coach Kevin O’Connell has already experimented with Josh Dobbs and Nick Mullens. Both have been subsequently eliminated from the equation. As long as Jaren makes the throws and reads any average NFL QB is expected to and doesn’t turn the ball over like a cheap Brett Favre, he will get another start next week.

Related: Why Kevin O’Connell Had No Choice but to Start Jaren Hall at QB

And if the rookie can lead Minnesota to two-straight wins in weeks 17 and 18, there’s a coin-flip chance he will be a playoff quarterback in the NFL. But let’s hit pause for one second. Is that something this fanbase should let themselves entertain? I mean, what can we really expect out of a 5th round rookie?

What can Minnesota Vikings fans expect out of Hall?

Well, if you had faith in Josh Dobbs and/or Nick Mullens, then there’s no reason you shouldn’t have that faith in Jaren Hall. Unlike Dobbs, he knows the playbook and proved in his two appearances earlier this season that he can go through reads and make requisite throws needed to move Kevin O’Connell’s offense.

How does the Vikings coaching staff look at this drive that Jaren Hall put together against the Falcons and not see if he can do it again?? He CANNOT be worse than Mullens or Dobbs man. #Skol pic.twitter.com/H4xHvn2I9s

— PJ (@PandemicJones) December 24, 2023

Oh, you have turnover PTSD from Nick Mullens? I can’t blame you, nor can I guarantee Sunday’s rookie starter won’t fumble or throw any interceptions. But a quick look into Hall’s statistics at BYU will put your mind at ease.

Mullens has always been a ‘gunslinger’ type. He wants to be Brett Favre, he just doesn’t have the talent. In his college career at Southern Mississippi, Nick Mullens threw over one interception (46) for every two touchdowns (87).

In his two years as starter at BYU, Jaren Hall threw nearly five touchdowns (52) for every one (11) interception. In his final year at BYU, he threw for over 3100 yards, 31 touchdowns and just 6 interceptions. This is why so many wanted a look at Hall, including O’Connell, instead of sticking with Nick Mullens or going back to Josh Dobbs.

Even though he is a 5th-round pick, he should still theoretically be better than Dobbs at finding open Vikings receivers and worse than Nick Mullens at finding open defenders.

Jaren Hall (aka The Mormon Missle) BYU Highlights pic.twitter.com/Do5OYn1s88

— Purple FTW! Podcast (@PurpleForTheWin) October 31, 2023

Kevin O’Connell sure to test Hall’s arm

Another factor to keep in mind is Kevin O’Connell’s play calling. No matter who the QB is, KOC has proven that he is going to put the ball in the hands of his quarterback and let him win or lose them the game. He believes in his system and believes that, if you are an NFL caliber QB, you should be able to run it competently.

So I’m trying to keep my expectations down… but the more I think about the game tonight, the more I’m convinced it could be a Jaren Hall coming out party. The Green Bay secondary is worse than some of the secondaries Hall faced while at BYU, at this point, especially after they suspended Jaire Alexander and we know O’Connell is going to test out his arm like no other playcaller would their day-3 rookie quarterback.

So, if you expect that Hall will hit open receivers more often than not, and keep the ball out of the Green Bay’s hands better than Nick Mullens did… then 300 yards and 2 or 3 touchdowns seems pretty realistic to me. What New Years week that would make…

And head coach Kevin O’Connell announced on Thursday that, in week 17 on Sunday Night Football vs the Green Bay Packers, it’s Jaren Hall’s turn to take another shot at the job.

Head Coach Kevin O’Connell has announced that Jaren Hall will start for the #Vikings Sunday night. pic.twitter.com/YQ2zrpMxkx

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) December 28, 2023

Kevin O’Connell had no choice but to turn to Jaren Hall at QB

Why Hall? Ultimately, the Vikings don’t have a choice. Dobbs provided a spark but we’ve already seen his limitations throwing the football and going through reads, neither of which make a Kevin O’Connell offense look very good.

Related: Russell Wilson as Next Vikings Quarterback…?

And Mullens, on the other hand, can’t stop throwing the football to the wrong team; something frowned upon in the NFL, believe it or not.

Consider this: Mullens leads the NFL with the highest interception rate among all QBs who have attempted 25 or more passes this season, which isn’t exactly the category you want to lead the NFL in.

How bad is it? Mullens has thrown an interception on 7.3% of his pass attempts this season. Compare that to Cousins (1.6%) or Dobbs (3.3%), and it’s easy to see that the Vikings really had no choice but to try something different, yet again.

Hall’s first run as starter was short lived

If you tuned out a bit early in week 8 vs the Packers and tuned in a bit late to week 9 vs the Atlanta Falcons, it’s very possible you’ve missed Hall’s time under center for the Vikings this season. It’s easy to forget that he was actually the first Vikings backup QB tasked with replacing Kirk Cousins, following #8’s season-ending Achilles injury.

The rookie 5th rounder out of BYU QB’d the Vikings for a few drives late in that game vs Green Bay and got the start vs Atlanta. And guess what… he looked pretty damn good.

How does the Vikings coaching staff look at this drive that Jaren Hall put together against the Falcons and not see if he can do it again?? He CANNOT be worse than Mullens or Dobbs man. #Skol pic.twitter.com/H4xHvn2I9s

— PJ (@PandemicJones) December 24, 2023

But Hall’s time in the purple and gold captain’s chair didn’t last long. Just two drives into that first start vs Falcons, Hall left the game with a concussion. So, this is his first opportunity in two months back under center.

How we got [back] here

Since Jaren Hall exited that contest, Vikings fans have ridden quite the QB rollercoaster. We saw the ‘Passtronaut’ Joshua Dobbs blast off into stardom… just to fall back down to earth as quickly as he took off.

In week 12 vs the Bears, Dobbs threw 4 interceptions and the Vikings lost 12-10. After taking the bye week to evaluate the QB position, coach Kevin O’Connell wanted to give the Passtronaut a chance to learn from and overcome his mistakes.

That plan backfired in Las Vegas the week after their bye. Dobbs couldn’t move the offense, finishing with only 63 yards passing and a completion rate of just 43%.

Breaking:

Josh Dobbs has been benched for Nick Mullens pic.twitter.com/g3QG2gBFQU

— PlayerProfiler (@rotounderworld) December 10, 2023

With the score still 0-0 in the 4th quarter, KOC went to veteran journeyman gunslinger Nick Mullens who ended up throwing for 83 yards in three drives and managed to push the Vikings into field goal range for the Greg Joseph dagger that carried them to an ugly 3-0 victory.

After playing hero in Vegas, the starting QB job was Mullens’ to lose. With the Southern Miss alum under center, Minnesota’s offense actually returned to something resembling a high-powered passing attack.

Related: Minnesota Vikings Playoff Odds – Week 17

But quickly, we realized that Nick Mullens is a Brett Favre (same college) without the talent, which became apparent when he started firing interceptions whenever he got an opportunity. Four interceptions and a loss vs the Detroit Lions in week 16, and suddenly, we are back full circle to Jaren Hall.

Great opportunity for Jaren Hall

This time around, Hall will get a chance to play with Minnesota’s top weapon, Justin Jefferson, who has already expressed confidence in the fifth-round rookie.

“I feel like Jaren is definitely a great quarterback. He has definitely some potential to spark this offense up if we put him out there to play. But we’ll have confidence in whoever.”

Justin Jefferson on Jaren Hall

Now, the only question is, can an extremely inexperienced QB like Hall look like a more polished pro than his veteran peers? There will be over 70,000 passionate football fans packed into U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday who can’t wait to find out.

But no matter if he sinks or swims, KOC made the only correct choice this weekend at starting quarterback.

Related: Russell Wilson as Next Vikings Quarterback…?

Minnesota Vikings may bench QB Nick Mullens, start Jaren Hall

When you’re a replacement QB who throws six total interceptions in two-straight losses, your job and NFL career are probably in jeopardy. And, according to Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk.com), that’s the case for Nick Mullens too. Florio reports that the Vikings are “taking a long look” at replacing Mullens with rookie, Jaren Hall.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Vikings are taking a long look at whether Mullens should be benched for rookie Jaren Hall.

Mike Florio – ProFootballTalk.com

If O’Connell makes the move (again) at quarterback, he’d be throwing his 5th round rookie QB into quite a fire. Not only are the hated rival Green Bay Packers coming to U.S. Bank Stadium this weekend.

Both teams have 7-8 records so the loser of this week 17 matchup can give up on any remaining postseason hopes and, instead, start planning their offseason vacations. No pressure…

Related: Minnesota Vikings Playoff Odds – Week 17

Jaren Hall’s first attempt at starting quarterback

If the job on Sunday night is indeed passed to Hall, it wouldn’t be his first start. Back in week 10 vs the Atlanta Falcons, the Vikings were forced into starting the youngster out of BYU, after Kirk Cousins went down with a torn achilles.

At that time, Josh Dobbs was the only other healthy QB on roster and he had only been on the team for a few days, after being acquired via trade with the Arizona Cardinals. Hall’s tenure as starting QB only lasted two drives, though. The first ended in a 3-and-out. But in his second attempt, Hall led the offense down on an impressive drive that ended in a score.

Related: Justin Jefferson Talks About How Much Vikings Miss Kirk Cousins

Unfortunately, the score was only a field goal, after Jaren was stopped short of the goal line trying to scramble into the end zone. The real disappointment came at the end of that tackle, when the back of Jaren’s head smashed into the turf, concussing the 25-year-old and ending his time as Minnesota’s QB1.

Kevin O’Connell has a press conference scheduled for 2:00 PM. I’d guess this topic will be on the agenda.

Minnesota Vikings expected to stick with Nick Mullens

According to Jeremy Fowler (ESPN), head coach Kevin O’Connell will stick with Nick Mullens for the team’s biggest game of the year Sunday vs the NFC North leading (10-4) Detroit Lions.

Quarterback Nick Mullens is expected to make another start for the #Vikings on Sunday vs. the #Lions, per sources.

Mullens passed for 303 yards last week vs. Cincinnati pic.twitter.com/N3qE0ijEtf

— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) December 18, 2023

NFC North title, NFL Playoffs both on the line

Playoff implications? Sunday’s game has them. A lot of them. If the Lions win, they lock in their first division crown in three decades (1993). The Vikings, on the other hand, probably need two wins in their last three weeks, if they want to get into the NFL playoffs. Two of those games are against the Lions.

Related: Dave Portnoy Dumbfounded by Vikings Moronic Tush Push Personnel Decisions

And the division isn’t completely lost yet, either. Some sites, as referenced in our updated Vikings Playoff Odds, still give Minnesota as good as an 11% chance of overtaking Detroit for the NFC North’s no. 1 spot, before the dust settles on this 2023 regular season.

Vikings making right choice

Without a doubt, both teams enter Sunday’s noon matchup with every possible motivation to win. Clearly, KOC believes Nick Mullens gives them the best chance of doing that. And I agree.

Nick made some horrible decisions and his two red zone interceptions contributed a fair share to the Vikings loss in Cincinnati on Saturday. But it was his 80% completion rate, 313 yards passing and 2 touchdowns that gave them a really good chance to win, too.

Nick Mullens gets the throw off and Jordan Addison takes it all the way!

📺: #MINvsCIN on @NFLNetwork
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/vtmfEKvOLy pic.twitter.com/LsiyRrp1bD

— NFL (@NFL) December 16, 2023

Watching the Vikings offense vs the Bengals, with Mullens under center, was like turning on Bad Boys 2 for the first time after you’ve been forced to sit inside and watch Cocomelon for the past month-straight. Mistakes and all, I’m riding with Nick Mullens.

When it was over, the Vikings offense put up 424 total yards and Mullens went 26 of 33 (79%) for 303 yards and 2 touchdowns (to go along with 2 interceptions but we’ll get to those momentarily). This, just 6 days after their prior starting QB mustered just 63 yards in 3.5 quarters vs the Las Vegas Raiders in week 14.

Related: Minnesota Vikings Playoff Odds

Nick Mullens was the right choice, even in a loss

Some, like Kurt Warner, might have been surprised by how easily the Vikings offense was moving vs the Bengals. Others (like me) were not. Sure, Nick threw a couple of his patented dumb interceptions at the worst possible moments. Both were in thrown in the red zone. One was possibly the most ill-advised throw in NFL history.

This is a wild interception 😂

BJ Hill has two INTs in two weeks 😂pic.twitter.com/lXd2vnvhTP

— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) December 16, 2023

But you can’t throw dumb red zone interceptions if you never lead your team into the red zone. Was Nick Mullens perfect on Saturday? Hell no. He isn’t going to be. We found ways to convince ourselves that Kirk Cousins was bad at quarterbacking.

Week 15 Starting Backup QB > Week 14 Starting Backup QB

You think Nick Mullens is going to impress us on a throw by throw basis? There’s a reason why Mullens is a career backup. Watching him is supposed to make you miss Kirk Cousins because Kirk is 47x the QB Nick is.

The Vikings lost today and Mullens deserves his fair share of blame. His two interceptions cost the Vikings points that probably would have put his team up three scores at one point or another during this game, pushing Cincinnati’s hopes of overtime just about out of reach.

Related: Justin Jefferson Loves His Starting Quarterback Kirk Cousins

But unlike Josh Dobbs the last few weeks, Mullens was able to move the offense up and down the field nearly every drive. Ty Chandler gave the run game a much needed pop and Mullens was beyond good enough to keep the defense honest.

Just a prayer here by Nick Mullens. One that the football gods clearly answered pic.twitter.com/RwY5zsqqvp

— ThatsGoodSports (@BrandonPerna) December 16, 2023

Mullens deserves plenty of blame for Minnesota Vikings loss

Yes, his INT’s allowed the Bengals to hang around and eventually steal a game they shouldn’t have had a chance in. But the Vikings still should have won, had it not been for the defense’ sudden inability to stop the Bengals offense paired with Kevin O’Connell’s false worship of the tush push gods.

If there’s one thing we can take out of the 2023 season for sure, it’s that none of the Vikings QBs are Jalen Hurts and it’s time for KOC to give up on the tush push goal line offense.

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

Had the Minnesota Vikings won on Saturday, they would have been near a lock to make the NFC playoff field. Of course, we should have known it wouldn’t be that easy.

With a handful of NFC teams sitting at 6-6 entering week 15, it’s most likely the Vikings will sit one game up on the teams trying to chase them down over the stretch run of the 2023 season.