The Minnesota Vikings will start their fourth different quarterback of the 2023 season when they travel to take on the Cincinnati Bengals this Saturday. The team announced on Tuesday that Nick Mullens would start at quarterback, while Joshua Dobbs is sent to the bench.
Dobbs was benched for Mullens in the fourth quarter of the eventual 3-0 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. Dobbs had completed 10 of 23 passes for 63 yards before he was pulled. After his incredible Vikings debut back in Week 9, where he led a comeback victory over the Atlanta Falcons off the bench just days after joining the franchise, Dobbs had struggled as of late. In the back-to-back losses to the Denver Broncos and Chicago Bears, Dobbs accounted for six turnovers, including a career-high four interceptions thrown during the Week 12 loss to Chicago. Those four picks were the most thrown by a Viking at home since Matt Cassel in 2014.
Last week once he was inserted into the game, Mullens completed 9 of 13 passes for 83 yards. On his second drive, he led a 13-play, 56-yard drive that was capped by a Greg Joseph 36-yard field goal, which would be the only points of the game. The Vikings are one of four teams this season to record multiple wins with fewer than 250 total yards (231 total yards on Sunday), and the win over the Raiders was the seventh game in the Super Bowl era to finish with a 3-0 final score.
Mullens' last NFL start came for the Cleveland Browns back in 2021. Originally undrafted out of Southern Miss in 2017, Mullens joined the San Francisco 49ers as a free agent. In 19 total games played for the 49ers with 16 starts, Mullens threw for 4,714 yards, 25 touchdowns and 22 interceptions.
