Vikings to start QB Nick Mullens against Bengals after Joshua Dobbs’ latest struggles

The Minnesota Vikings are sticking with Nick Mullens.

The Vikings announced Tuesday that Mullens will start Saturday in their game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Mullens will start in place of Joshua Dobbs, who he replaced late in their 3-0 win over the Las Vegas Raiders last week.

Mullens entered Sunday’s game at Allegiant Stadium with just more than nine minutes left in the fourth quarter. After going three-and-out initially, Mullens led the Vikings on a 12-play, 56-yard drive that set up a 36-yard field goal from kicker Greg Joseph — which finally broke the 0-0 tie and eventually gave the Vikings the narrow win.

Mullens finished his day going 9-of-13 for 83 yards. Perhaps most notably, he helped the Vikings avoid being the first game to go into overtime in a scoreless tie since 1974.

The Vikings traded for Dobbs right before the deadline earlier this season shortly after starter Kirk Cousins went down with an Achilles injury. Though Dobbs won his first two starts, which made for a remarkable story, he’s struggled since. He lost back-to-back games before Sunday’s contest against the Raiders, where he went 10-of-23 for just 63 yards through three quarters. He was sacked five times and lost more than 60 yards, too.

So now head coach Kevin O’Connell will turn to Mullens on Saturday. Mullens, 28, is in his second season with the Vikings. He appeared in four games last season, but threw for just 224 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The former Southern Miss star signed with the San Francisco 49ers in 2018 after going undrafted, and spent three seasons there and one with the Cleveland Browns before landing in Minneapolis.

The Vikings are sitting at 7-6 and are still in the mix in the NFC Playoff race. A win over the Bengals, even with their issues at quarterback, would go a long way in helping the team make the postseason for a second straight year.