Why Josh Dobbs’ Vikings debut was even more impressive than you think

Vikings QB Josh Dobbs put together a historic performance on Sunday, and here’s why it’s even more exceptional than you may think.

“What’s up, everybody? My name is Josh Dobbs. I’m the quarterback for Minnesota. I wanted to introduce myself to everyone.”

That’s how new Minnesota Vikings quarterback Josh Dobbs started his post-game press conference after his team beat the Atlanta Falcons, 31-28 on Sunday. Not the way you expect any quarterback to start a presser, but in Dobbs’ case, he may have felt that an introduction was necessary. After Kirk Cousins suffered a season-ending torn Achilles tendon in Week 8 against the Green Bay Packers, head coach Kevin O’Connell’s plan was to start fifth-round rookie Jalen Hall against Atlanta. But Hall was concussed early in the game, and Dobbs — who the Vikings traded for on Tuesday from the Arizona Cardinals — had to come in and try to get something done.

Dobbs isn’t the first quarterback to have to paly with a new team with very little ramp-up time, but what he was able to do against a generally game Falcons defense was truly exceptional. With less than a week to acclimate to his new offense, Dobbs didn’t have time to learn the Vikings’ cadences and protections. And it wasn’t as if the Vikings had any other options — running back Cam Akers, who was Minnesota’s emergency quarterback, suffered his own Achilles injury against the Falcons. O’Connell, who played for the 2008 New England Patriots and had six passing attempts, may have had to suit up if anything happened to Dobbs.

And it wasn’t just Akers who was out. Left tackle Christian Darrisaw was inactive with a groin injury. Receiver Justin Jefferson was still out with his hamstring injury, and receiver K.J. Osborn suffered a concussion in the Falcons game, and tight end T.J. Hockenson was playing through a rib injury.

Dobbs could and would have been excused for a disastrous performance under the circumstances, and there were early moments in which it looked as if things would fall apart. But Dobbs did an amazing job of getting it together, assisted by O’Connell and his staff, and a 31-28 Vikings win was the result.

“To Josh’s credit, it wasn’t as much as you would probably imagine, but we did condense down and create some things that we knew he would be comfortable with,” O’Connell said, when asked how much he had to water down his playbook for the new guy. “And his dialogue with [quarterbacks coach] Chris [O’Hara] and [assistant to the head coach/special projects] Grant [Udinski] that maybe wasn’t up on his initial game plan, but we can trust our guys to go execute.

“The no-huddle allowed us to settle everybody down and let me talk to him and give him some coaching points on the fly. That’s why you have those things on your offense. Once again, none of that is possible if he can’t come in here and – snap counts and formations and knowing where guys go and where guys are going to be when the ball hits his hands. Not to mention we’re playing against what I believe to be one of the better defenses we’ve played all season at home in the noise. I hope people understand that what Josh Dobbs was able to accomplish was very, very special, and I’m really proud of him.”

Dobbs completed 20 of 30 passes for 158 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 101.8. But the stats aren’t the story here — let’s get to the tape, and how the Vikings pulled off this

Washington QB Michael Penix Jr. replicates Aaron Rodgers’ historic throw

Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. had a touchdown pass on Saturday that looked a lot like Aaron Rodgers’ greatest NFL throw.

It was the ESPYs Play of the Year for 2017, and it’s easy to understand why. With 12 seconds left in the Green Bay Packers’ 34-31 divisional round playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys on January 5, 2016, Aaron Rodgers completed one of the most insane passes you will ever see. Rodgers rolled to his left, hurled the ball downfield, and tight end Jared Cook caught the 35-yard pass to put the Packers in place for their game-winning field goal.

You won’t see too many passes like that, but Washington’s Michacl Penix Jr. pulled off something very similar against USC’s wafer-thin defense on Saturday. With 11:54 left in the first half of an eventual 52-42 Washington win, Penix rolled to his left after heading to his right (he’s a lefty thrower) and hit tight end Devin Culp with a throw that had everybody shaking their heads.

We don’t know if this will win any awards, but it may just cement Penix as a first-round prospect in the 2024 NFL draft.

The Chiefs’ deep passing game has fallen apart. How can they fix it?

The Kansas City Chiefs’ deep passing game has been a disaster this season. How can they turn it around against the Miami Dolphins’ defense?

When the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Miami Dolphins in Frankfurt, Germany, they’ll be doing so with a severe deep passing deficit. Through the first eight weeks of the season, Patrick Mahomes has completed just 10 of 31 passes of 20 or more air yards for 351 yards, one touchdown, five interceptions, and a league-high eight turnover-worthy throws. That likes up for a passer rating of 44.1, and that’s a stark drop from last season, when Mahomes completed 28 of 66 deep targets for 931 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 104.7. Mahomes had just three turnover-worthy deep throws in the entire 2022 season, and that included the entire postseason, including the Chiefs’ Super Bowl win.

Mahomes’ receivers have taken a large share of the blame for this, and based on the tape, that’s legitimate. Justin Watson has been Mahomes’ only reliable deep target, with six deep catches on 12 targets for 180 yards, Other than that? Crickets. Marquez Valdes-Scantling has caught just three deep targets this season, and he was supposed to be Mahomes’ primary deep target post-Tyreek Hill (who Kansas City’s defense will have to deal with, of course).

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” Greg (of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup) and Doug (of Touchdown Wire) get into why this has happened, and how the Chiefs can fix it.

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You can watch this week’s full “Xs and Os,” featuring all of Week 9’s biggest NFL matchups (including Ravens-Seahawks) right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

Now, let’s unearth some of the issues with this Kansas City deep passing game.

Tennessee Titans’ offensive concepts fell short for Will Levis in his second NFL start

Titans quarterback Will Levis fell to earth against the Steelers after his historic NFL debut against the Falcons. Where did it all go wrong?

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There were times in Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis’ first NFL road game on Thursday against the Pittsburgh Steelers when he looked like the same guy who ripped the Atlanta Falcons’ defense to shreds last Sunday in his overall NFL debut. Levis, who became the third quarterback in pro football history to throw four touchdown passes and no interceptions in his first start (Fran Tarkenton and Marcus Mariota) fell to earth a bit, completing 22 of 39 passes for 262 yards, no touchdowns, a game-ending interception, and a passer rating of 66.4 — quite the drop from the 130.1 he put up against Atlanta.

Titans QB Will Levis had a historic NFL debut. What does it mean for his future?

Now, few people were expecting Levis to do against the Steelers what he did against the Falcons. In his NFL debut, Levis became the first NFL quarterback since at least 2016 to complete three touchdown passes of 50+ air yards. That’s not the kind of thing that happens repeatedly, no matter how good you are.

So, regression was inevitable after such an explosive first game. But as much as Titans offensive coordinator Tim Kelly dialed things up brilliantly for his young quarterback before… maybe it was the short week, but there were too many instances in which Kelly’s plan for Levis just didn’t make sense. That was evident on the broadcast, and it really came into view with the All-22 on Friday morning.

Before we get into that, and Tennessee’s especially weird two final drives, a few metrics:

Against the Falcons in that historic debut, Levis completed eight of 13 passes with play-action for 116 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 130.1. Against the Steelers, Levis had just seven attempts with play-action, completing four for 62 yards, including a 23-yard completion to Derrick Henry, and a 21-yard completion to Treylon Burks.

Levis completed nine of 12 passes with pre-snap motion against the Falcons for 101 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 139.2. Against the Steelers, Levis had just seven attempts with pre-snap motion, completing one for -8 yards.

None of the plays on Tennessee’s final two drive had either motion or play-action. The hurry-up nature of that drive would negate motion to a point, but as the Titans had someone else with Levis in the backfield on 10 of his final-drive throws, I’m at a loss there.

“Atypical” is an odd word to use for a quarterback who’s started two NFL games, but the stark strategic and schematic differences told a story. Let’s dive into what ultimately became a 20-16 Steelers win, pushing Tennessee to 3-5 at their halfway mark for the season.

The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell: Previewing Week 9’s biggest NFL matchups

Dolphins-Chiefs! Seahawks-Ravens! Cowboys-Eagles! Bills-Bengals! Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar preview Week 9’s biggest NFL games in “The Xs and Os.”

It’s time for Week 9 of the NFL season, and as always, Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup, and Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire and the USA Today Sports Media Group, get you ready with tons of tape study and advanced metrics.

This week, Greg and Doug get deep into these games:

Miami Dolphins “at” Kansas City Chiefs
Seattle Seahawks at Baltimore Ravens
Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles
Buffalo Bills at Cincinnati Bengals

You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os” right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

Ravens DC Mike Macdonald created a dominant pass rush without an alpha dog

The Baltimore Ravens lead the league in sacks without an alpha dog pass-rusher. Here’s how DC Mike Macdonald has put that together.

The Baltimore Ravens currently have the NFL’s best defense by DVOA, passing a Cleveland Browns defense that looked downright historic in the first half of the 2023 season. Second-year head coach Mike Macdonald has dialed up fronts and pressures that lead the NFL in sacks with 31, while their blitz rate of 24.9% is middle of the pack.

While multiple good players are responsible for this on the field, the Ravens don’t necessarily have an alpha-dog pass rusher like a Myles Garrett, Maxx Crosby, T.J. Watt, or Aidan Hutchinson. What they do as well as any team in the league is to scheme pressure intelligently, deploying the disruptors they have in the ways that work best for their attributes.

“Well, it’s great to hear that,” Macdonald said last week, when asked about Kyle Van Noy’s positive thoughts regarding how this defense is jelling. “I didn’t catch that, but [it’s] awesome to hear. Again, that’s something that goes unnoticed. We talked about in our meeting earlier in the week – it’s about the little details that you don’t necessarily see is what makes the difference and camaraderie and selflessness and effort and execution are things that aren’t necessarily shown to the naked eye when you’re watching the tape. To answer your question, those are the things that you see in a play-in and play-out basis is execution, guys doing the things they’re coached to do, playing really hard, having great energy in the meeting rooms and focus and taking a day-to-day mentality. Those are the things that as a coach, you’re striving for all the time, and we’re chasing it still. We’re not there by any means, but we’re chasing it. You can feel it on a day-to-day basis for sure.” 

One thing this defense is successfully chasing? Opposing quarterbacks.

In the case of Van Noy, who has 16 pressures, they move him to either edge, and also as a standup 3-tech in their third-down five-man fronts and blitzes. He’s still a quick rusher who knows how to shoot gaps. 

Odafe Oweh, who also has 16 pressures, is primarily an edge-rusher, but he’ll also get pressure from 3-tech looks and nose alignments.

They’ll use Jadeveon Clowney (34 pressures) as a stunt player, exploiting his ability to move quickly over multiple gaps. 

Justin Madubuike is regarded mostly as an interior pass-rusher, and he’s great there, but eight of his 26 pressures have come from the edge or over the tackles. Most of the time he’ll work inside from those outside looks, but he’s also quick enough to bend a tackle around the edge once in a while.

Michael Pierce is their primary interior rusher, and he’s a hoss at 6-0 and 340 pounds. He’s a physically dominant player who will flash short-area quickness, but his primary job is really to take a blocker and just push him back into the pocket.

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh has talked about how opponent-specific Mike Macdonald’s defense is, but what I really see is a lot of smart player deployment. That should continue to an impressive degree as the 2023 season rolls along. 

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys get deep into how the Ravens’ pass rush is cooking with so many ideal complementary pieces.

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You can watch this week’s full “Xs and Os,” featuring all of Week 9’s biggest NFL matchups (including Ravens-Seahawks) right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell: Previewing Week 9’s biggest NFL matchups

Dolphins-Chiefs! Seahawks-Ravens! Cowboys-Eagles! Bills-Bengals! Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar preview Week 9’s biggest NFL games in “The Xs and Os.”

It’s time for Week 9 of the NFL season, and as always, Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup, and Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire and the USA Today Sports Media Group, get you ready with tons of tape study and advanced metrics.

This week, Greg and Doug get deep into these games.

Tennessee Titans at Pittsburgh Steelers: Titans quarterback Will Levis had a historic debut on multiple levels against the Atlanta Falcons, but the Pittsburgh Steelers will have some different things awaiting him on Thursday night.

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Miami Dolphins “at” Kansas City Chiefs: Welcome to Frankfurt, Germany! The Chiefs have a deep-ball problem, and they might not be able to remove themselves from it. Meanwhile, the Dolphins are also trying to get back on track on offense… and Kansas City’s defense has no such issues.

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Seattle Seahawks at Baltimore Ravens: The Ravens now have the NFL’s best defense, and they’re doing it as much with scheme as talent. A fascinating matchup against Seattle’s explosive offense… and let’s not forget that the Seahawks just added Leonard Williams to a defense that has become quite good under the radar.

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Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles: The Eagles are coming off Jalen Hurts’ most Jalen Hurts-like game against the Washington Commanders, but Dan Quinn’s Cowboys defense presents a far more formidable challenge. Also, Dak Prescott is playing as well as we’ve seen in a while.

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Buffalo Bills at Cincinnati Bengals: The thing to watch here is that the Bills’ offense has suddenly gone full old-school K-Gun with its speed no-huddle passing concepts, and they’ll likely try that once more against a Lou Anarumo-led Bengals defense that usually shows you one thing pre-snap, and then changes the picture with authority. Also: Joe Burrow is all the way back, but the Bills have an exciting new cornerback in Rasul Douglas via trade.

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You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os” right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

Anatomy of a Play: How on earth did Joe Burrow DO that?

Joe Burrow had one of the 2023 NFL season’s most amazing plays against the 49ers, and here’s how it all happened.

When Tom Brady retired after the 2022 season, it was a good bump for Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. Because while Brady is the best in-pocket mover in pro football history (I will brook no argument), Burrow had become a close second, and he is absolutely now the best in the NFL at moving around the small boxing ring known as the pocket without leaving it, and making dynamic throws. Burrow had a rough start to the 2023 season as he recovered from a calf strain, but against the San Francisco 49ers in a 31-17 Week 8 win, Burrow made a play in which no defense would have been able to contain him… because San Francisco’s defense certainly tried.

With 11:29 left in the first quarter of the game, Cincinnati had  third-and-10 at its own 31-yard line, The 49ers had an overload look to the defensive right side in a concept they frequently use — three defensive lineman to the overload side, and linebacker Fred Warner as a standup three-tech to the other side. This time, instead of rushing, Warner dropped into the hook/curl area, as edge-rusher Nick Bosa crossed over tackle Javon Hargrave, and tackle Arik Armstead crossed the face of center Ted Karras.

As edge-rusher Randy Gregory collapsed the pocket to the other side, Burrow was in trouble all over the place. Most quarterbacks would have either taken a sack, thrown an errant duck, or moves outside the pocket.

But most quarterbacks aren’t Joe Burrow in the pocket. Somehow, Burrow escaped all that anarchy and fired an accurate pass to Tee Higgins for a first down.

Our buddy Joe Goodberry, a longtime Bengals expert, broke down what happened quite brilliantly:

From the overhead angle, you can see how the original routes broke down, and how Higgins used scramble rules to get free from cornerback Charvarius Ward. This play lasted so long that Warner, who dropped eight yards into coverage, nearly sacked Burrow just outside the pocket.

“I don’t use that word unbelievable anymore really, to be honest with you,” head coach Zac Taylor said after the game,. when asked about Burrow’s top-notch escapability. “But that first one, I mean, I’m joking because that’s just kind of what you come to expect and it’s just a great job. I’m sure he’s feeling pretty good. I’m sure he is going to be pretty sore, but just a good job with him never quitting on a play, keeping it alive. Again, I’ve learned just to keep my mouth shut, not say anything, and not think anything negative while he’s back there in the pocket moving around. You’ve just learned a lesson year four here. But again, that was a big play and he did a good job with his feet. He did a good job. There’s two men running through. That’s the best play you can get.”

“Yeah, it’s tough to break those down,” Burrow said. “They just kind of happen. Really, that was athleticism, acceleration, explosiveness, and those were really a big focus of mine in the offseason. I just haven’t really been able to show that too much, so it was nice to have that hard work pay off.”

It was nice for the Bengals in their quest to beat one of the NFL’s defenses, that’s for sure.

49ers bag Chase Young in massive deadline deal. Grade: A+

The 49ers’ blockbuster trade for Chase Young is one of those moves that’s impossible to criticize in the short term.

The Washington Commanders traded away their two foundational edge-rushers on Tuesday, Montez Sweat was traded to the Chicago Bears in a move that had a lot of people shaking their heads, and then, the San Francisco 49ers swept in and got Chase Young for a 2024 third-round pick, which has Steve Wilks’ defensive line looking like THIS:

Holy cats. How did this happen? The Commanders are clearly building (re: tanking) for the future, and the 49ers, who allowed 13.6 points per game in their 5-0 opening win streak, and 24.0 points per game in their recent 0-3 slide, have another impact guy on a defense that has underperformed of late.

The 49ers also now have the second-overall pick in the 2019 draft (Bosa) and the second-overall pick in the 2020 draft (Young) — both from Ohio State. This season, Bosa has 44 total pressures, ranking third in the NFL behind Maxx Crosby and Aidan Hutchinson, and Young has 29 pressures, tied for eighth in the league.

That should mean very, very bad news for opposing offensive tackles.

Young’s speed to the pocket is his calling card, as he showed on this sack of Tyrod Taylor of the Giants in Week 7. Left tackle Justin Pugh didn’t have much of a response as a career offensive guard.

And on this sack of Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4, Young gave left tackle Jordan Mailata a nasty double move on his way to the quarterback.

Like Sweat, Young is in the last year of his current contract. But unlike Sweat, Young goes to an absolute contender, and a re-signing might be far more in the Cards. Given the relative lack of draft capital given, and what Young should do for San Francisco’s edges, it’s hard not to see this as a pure steal.

Vikings grab Cardinals QB Josh Dobbs in trade. Grade: B

The Vikings scored with the Josh Dobbs trade… but it’s important to know what Kirk Cousins’ replacement is… and what he isn’t.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins was playing about as well as he has in his career before he suffered a season-ending torn Achilles tendon against the Green Bay Packers last Sunday.

That’s obviously a major blow for the team, and for head coach Kevin O’Connell, whose offense was a perfect structure for Cousins. On Tuesday, the Vikings traded a sixth-round pick to the Arizona Cardinals for quarterback Josh Dobbs and a seventh-round pick that could become a conditional sixth-round pick.

A 2017 fourth-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers out of Tennessee, Dobbs is now on his seventh NFL team, He was traded from the Cleveland Browns to the Cardinals just before the 2023 season, and with Kyler Murray’s injury situation, he became Arizona’s starting quarterback pretty quickly.

This season, Dobbs has completed 167 of 266 passes for 1,569 yards, eight touchdowns, five interceptions, and a passer rating of 81.2. He’s completed 11 of 30 passes of 20 or more air yards for 328 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and passer rating of 100.4.

That’s great, and it shows up on tape. On this 33-yard pass to receiver Michael Wilson against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 4, Dobbs did a great job of complementing Wilson’s vertical double move with a great throw.

Where things get interesting for Dobbs is in the intermediate level of a defense — all five lf his interceptions this season have come on throws of 10-19 air yards. If the Vikings are looking for a “conservator” quarterback, they seem to be getting more of a potential big-play machine both with his arm and as a runner. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, as they say, but O’Connell and his staff will have to rein a few things in. This interception against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 8 was especially egregious — and one of two picks he threw in the game.

The Vikings probably scored in a big way here, getting a quarterback for a low-ball deal who should be able to help keep them postseason-relevant. It’s just important to know what Dobbs is at this point in his career, and what he isn’t.