Vikings' Kevin O'Connell wouldn't commit to Nick Mullens after Bengals loss
There are plenty of reasons why the Minnesota Vikings lost to the Cincinnati Bengals and Nick Mullens certainly played a part.But, in no way did the Vikings lose because of Mullens. In fact, the whole reason they held a 17-3 lead and 24-17 lead at various points was because of Mullens' play. Yet, Vikings head coach […]
There are plenty of reasons why the Minnesota Vikings lost to the Cincinnati Bengals and Nick Mullens certainly played a part.
But, in no way did the Vikings lose because of Mullens. In fact, the whole reason they held a 17-3 lead and 24-17 lead at various points was because of Mullens' play.
Yet, Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell wouldn't commit to the idea of Mullens as the No. 1 quarterback heading into the final three games of the year.
"We'll evaluate it, but he did a lot of good things today," O'Connell told reporters after the game. "I liked the feel of both our run game and pass game [and] how it was kind of working together.
"We'll take a look at it, watch the film and make a decision moving forward. But, Nick Mullens played how I expected him to play. We still need to find a way to protect the football when it's in our hands, on all downs. And continue to strive for the execution of the other 10 guys around the quarterback, which I thought for the most part today was was pretty solid."
It's a strange answer, all things considered. Mullens played pretty damn well on Saturday, completing 78.8% of his passes for 303-yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. The second interception was more of a freak play, than anything, and the Bengals' pick-six that called back was a great play by Germaine Pratt, more than it was a bad play by Mullens. Pratt simply sniffed the screen out and made the play.
Now, sure, one can definitely argue the second touchdown throw to Jordan Addison shouldn't have been attempted and Mullens got very lucky on that play, but still, it was the best QB play the team has seen in a month and it's manageable enough to where the Vikings can win these last three games with Mullens behind center.
"I thought as far as the yardage we were able to generate and you know, a couple big plays to help us score, I thought Nick Mullens played well enough to give us a chance to go to overtime on the road and win a game and as a team, we just didn't do enough in the end," said O'Connell.
O'Connell doesn't need to go back-and-forth on this decision like he did during the postgame presser. As long as the Vikings defense doesn't play like it did on Saturday, the team has a chance to win all three of its upcoming games.
But if O'Connell decides to go with Jaren Hall or if he even decides to go back to Josh Dobbs, the Vikings are just going to have another question they have to find the answer to.
And that kind of question, with three games left in the season, can sink a 7-7 team if the right call isn't made. Fortunately for O'Connell, it's an easy decision when it comes to keeping Mullens in the starting lineup.
