I preferred Jaren Hall to be the Vikings’ quarterback. I apologize.
Cousins, the Vikings’ injured starting quarterback, sounded the pregame Gjallarhorn before the Vikings and Packers faced off on Sunday night at U.S. Bank Stadium. Before doing so, he took off his shirt, revealing his now-traditional gold chain and recognizable nude body. He should have blown a bugle and sounded “Retreat.” Following the Vikings’ 33-10 loss, it’s not surprising that almost everyone in Minnesota misses Cousins at quarterback. What’s surprising is that nearly everyone in Minnesota suddenly misses Sean Mannion.
After Cousins ruptured his Achilles tendon, the Vikings tried out Joshua Dobbs, Nick Mullens, and Jaren Hall, three backup quarterbacks who may have been considered intriguing.
Dobbs gave them two excellent games before collapsing. Mullens gave them one good drive in Las Vegas before turning into a football dispensary. Hall may have been the most surprise of the three. Chosen to start in Atlanta after Cousins’ injury, in part because Dobbs had just arrived and Mullens was hurt, Hall completed five of six passes, ran twice for 11 yards, and departed the game with a concussion as he approached the goal line. Eight weeks later, he looked nothing like Cousins, the good version of Dobbs, or the productive if unpredictable Mullens; he looked nothing like the quarterback who at least appeared capable of reading a defense in Atlanta. I wanted to see Hall start.
If you wanted to see a ball drop, simply watch Hall throw in the general vicinity of Johnny Mundt. Because of Cousins’ endurance, the Vikings made do with Mannion as their backup quarterback for many years. When Mannion did play, he appeared to be a bad game-manager. My apologies, Mannion. He may have been better than any of the current three backups since he understood how to run the offense and attempted to avoid mistakes. He at least appeared to acknowledge his own limitations. Hall was overwhelmed on Sunday night. He threw one interception (off Mundt’s hands) and lost one fumble. But it wasn’t just his faults that had him benched at halftime, but the fact that he
Mullens was benched after throwing four interceptions against Detroit. He deserved his benching. However, there is a distinction to be made between knowing how to run an offense and making poor selections and throws, as well as not appearing to be prepared for the situation. One of the underlying assumptions of sports discussion, or sports writing, is that there is a rational answer to every problem. Is the team not scoring enough? Run the ball more. Or chuck it more. The team isn’t winning. Fire the coach. The current quarterback isn’t producing. Try the backup. What the 2023 Vikings have demonstrated is that sometimes there isn’t a solution—unless you want to go back to the turn of the decade and have past General Manager Rick Spielman remain with Jake Browning instead of drafting Kellen.
